Tapas on the Ramblas

Here we have is the third entry in the Russell Quant, Canadian Detective, series. As the third book, "Tapas on the Ramblas" seems to suffer from a curious wandering of the author's attention. I liked this book quite a lot, but I am no damn fool. The main mystery was resolved in a coldly practical and predictable way, one I saw coming in pllleeennnty of time to wish Russell had as well; I felt the more interesting part of the story was the unsubtly drawn, but intentionally so, darkening of the clouds around Russell's fascinating neighbour (oh dear, I'm going Canadian) Sereena.

This tale, with its actual emotional stakes for my future husband (if I can figure out how to *pfoof* myself into fictional Saskatoon), resonates with this reader. show more His client, who hires him to resolve a rather shabby plotline that involves greed, power, and #gasp# S-E-X and the elderly girl, is so unpleasant that I wished the crime planned and telegraphed from page one had been committed. Oh oh! That was a spoiler!! (Well, not much of one...the back cover has the sentence: "He begins to wonder: Whodoesn't want Charity Wiser dead?" Not me.)

But Sereena Orion Smith, International Woman of Mystery! She's just a cool subplot away from stealing me from Mr. Russell Quant! Her many tales of life outside Saskatoon are never heard, which makes them far more effective than if they'd been presented on the page. (Think Maris Crane, from "Frasier"...how much better that we never see her, no?) Her curious choice of residence in a small prairie city in one of Canada's less errr hmmm ummm shall we say famous provinces becomes more and more odd as we see her moving through the larger world with aplomb and panache. It makes the deep shadows surrounding her all the more fascinating for Russell, and for me. I expect that Bidulka will do something with this, given the ending which I have to say was a surprise and not a pleasant one, but which made me very very very glad I ordered the entire series when I ordered the books!

Bidulka isn't a perfect writer, and his plotting of the mysteries is getting better each outing. It's necessary to point out that sometimes his near-miss word choices will make the erudite twitch a little. (No, I won't give examples, that's just poncey-stuffy-professor stuff.) But on balance, on balance...like the late, great Joseph Hansen's Dave Brandstetter, Anthony Bidulka's Russell Quant should be given a chance to lure the timid and straight into a good friendship with a good, morally sound, brave-reverent-thrifty gay crime solver. Recommended, with the caveat that you really need to start with book one, "Amuse Bouche". show less

Charity Wiser, head of Wiser Meats and the head of the Wiser Clan, delights in tormenting her family with the monies she plans of divvying up in her will. Her form of torment, however, is unusual -- she forces the family to gather together for yearly Charity Events (Charity meaning her and not actual charities). She finds either the most unsuitable location or runs the family through a horrendous onslaught of group activities, convincing them that this is what they need to do in order to garner a good spot in her will. At the last such event, though, someone finally had enough of the terrorizing and decided to take action, mistakenly poisoning her cat.

To uncover who in the Wiser family has it in for her, Charity stages one final event show more and brings in Russell Quant, a gay private investigator. Charity's family will be gathering for a Mediterranean cruise aboard the Friend of Dorothy Cruiseliner -- a gay-friendly cruise chosen specifically to make her family uncomfortable. On top of that, she's let the family know that she plans on changing her will so it's up to Russell to untangle the web of greed and lies within the Wiser family before Charity -- or even Russell himself -- winds up dead in the water.

I liked the characters. Most of the gay/lesbian characters showed the diversity of the gay community -- from the sometimes in-your-face drag queens to the business-like lesbian captain of the ship -- and I like that Charity Wiser never hid her relationship with her lover Dottie from her family, no matter what they may have felt about it.

But it was the twists and turns of the story kept my attention. I never had a solid inkling as to who the murder could be thanks to all the re-directing of potential culpability. With many mysteries, it sometime becomes apparent early on in the story just who the guilty party is, but this story had so many different trails to follow that even I didn't know how Russell would pull off solving the mystery.

"Tapas on the Ramblas" is a fun mystery, something that is filled with enough interesting characters (from the Wiser clan and members of the ship's crew to two Mary and Rhoda drag queens), plot twists, well thought out red herrings, and murders to keep any reader entertained. show less

I took this book with me when we went camping and it was the perfect light read. This is the third Russell Quant mystery and I hope to read the rest in the series.

In this outing Quent, a gay private detective in Saskatoon, is hired by Charity Wiser, an eccentric millionaire, to find out who in her family is trying to murder her. Charity is lesbian but she did give birth to a son who died, together with his wife, in a car accident. Charity and her partner, Dottie Blocka, raised her granddaughter, Flora. Flora is now an adult and seems to be at Charity's beck and call. It is Flora who hires Quant but Charity instructed her to do so. The whole Wiser clan is going on a Mediterranean cruise to celebrate Charity's eightieth birthday. Quant is show more to be on the cruise in the guise of Charity's legal advisor but with the mission of uncovering who poisoned Charity's cat with tea that had been meant for Charity. Quant can bring a companion but since he has no romantic partner at the time he invites his landlady, Errall, who was recently left by her female lover and needs a break. Together Russell and Errall board the cruise ship Dorothy in Barcelona after having tapas on the Ramblas with Charity, Dottie and Flora. There are lots of suspects but only a week to find out who is the culprit, hopefully without he or she being able to off Charity. Since practically the entire crew and many of the passengers are LGBTQ+, there are also lots of references to the sexuality of everyone. There's even some hinted at romantic liasons, including one for Quant. I had no idea who the guilty party was until the reveal on the last night of the cruise. But be prepared for a final twist even after the party departs the ship for some time in Tuscany.

I thought this was clever and funny but if you aren't acquainted with some LGBTQ+ folks you might find it a little off-putting. show less

An wealthy matriarch is convinced a member of her family is trying to murder her to get their hands on the inheritance and hires Russell to find out who.

Some nice comedy here and also lots of misdirection. But Russell's love life needs sorting out. He needs to find someone who is obtainable, doesn't get murdered, and is not one of the bad guys. And most importantly what has happened to Sereena?

Way back in high school I once read a few mystery novels for one of my English classes. I enjoyed them well enough, but haven't really read many since. Tapas on the Ramblas is not a book I probably would have picked up to read were it not for my book club. For one reason, it is the third book in the Russel Quant Mysteries and I usually try to start with the first novel in a series. However, I found it quite delightful even without reading the two books that come before it.

Russell Quant is a private investigator located in the prairie city of Saskatoon (in the middle of the Saskatchewan province, for those unfamiliar with Canada). It's shaping up to be a rather nondescript fall when a young women enters his office on the behalf of her show more grandmother, Charity Wiser. A wealthy octogenarian, Charity is convinced that someone in her family is determined to kill her and wants Russell to find out who. Far from the types of cases he normally works, Russell takes the job, and the free Mediterranean Cruise Charity has arranged to get her family all in one place. But why hire Russell when she could hire virtually any private detective she wants? Because he's gay, of course.

Russell has his work cut out for him. It seems that everyone in the family has a good reason to need the inheritance money, but who is desperate enough to commit murder? Filled with colorful character and locations, twists and turns galore, and narrated by our audacious hero, the story was a quick and fun to read. Although there were references to the previous books and characters, they aren't essential to appreciate the story (although it would probably be nice.) There were a few loose ends left, as well, probably to be taken up by the novels that come afterwards. Overall, quite an enjoyable light read.

Experiments in Reading show less

I think this is in that group of mysteries known as "cozy" mysteries. More humor than detection, improbable scenarios, much nonsense. It isn't my cup of tea.

I found the humor predictable, the characters just annoying. I couldn't particularly like any of them. I also had a time keeping them straight - as in remembering who was who. Clearly this book is for somebody else and I hope this copy finds another reader who enjoys it.

The third installment of the series featuring Russell Quant, a gay private detective based in Saskatoon. In this story, Russell is hired by the eccentric matriarch of a wealthy Canadian family who believes that someone is trying to kill her. The plan to discover the truth is set aboard an upscale gay cruise ship in the Mediterranean. A well-written and entertaining mystery, typical of the whole series.