Russell Quant Books In Order

Publication Order of Russell Quant Mystery Books

The Russell Quant Mystery series is a well known series of suspense, thriller, and mystery. It was written by the popular Canadian novelist named Anthony Bidulka. This series is comprised of 8 books in total, which were released between the years 2003 and 2012. All the books in the series feature the lead protagonist in the role of Russell Quant, who is depicted as a private eye living in Canada. Russell Quant lives quite a large and happening life in a small prairie city in Canada called Saskatoon. Previously, Russell used to work as a constable in the local police station. But, he gave up the boring job and made use of his inheritance money for bankrolling a risky turn to become a private eye. Even though Russell Quant considers this work as a risky, both on the financial and professional levels, he enjoys doing it. To add to his bad luck, the city of Saskatoon is not prone to many criminal activities. As a result, they are not many private investigators living here. Going through the Yellow Pages, the clients can find a very less number of investigators. And to make the matters even more complicated for Russell Quant, he is found to be a gay. Throughout the course of the mystery series, it is shown that most of the action happens within the prairie burg. However, Russell Quant often travels to faraway places, trailing the bad guys. He ventures out of the Saskatoon city to New York, Barcelona, and Paris. His reputation in the world of private eyes is like that of a party boy sleuth, who likes to get around, spread his particular gimlet-eyed wit, brawn, and brain brand. His searches and investigation takes Russell Quant to unique locations, where he is needed to deal with some of the most captivating personalities. Due to such involvements of Russell Quant, the stories described in the books of this series appear as saucy, rich, and engaging to read. At the end of each of the novels, Russell Quant is shown as returning back to his hometown in Saskatoon.

An initial book written and published in the thriller series by author Anthony is entitled ‘Aloha Candy Hearts’. This book was released by the Insomniac Press publication in the year 2009. Author Anthony has set the plot in Canada. The important characters featuring in the central plot include Russell Quant and several others. At the start of this novel, Russell Quant is shown perplexed by working as a private detective. Moving around from central Pacific to most parts of Canada, he is looking for answers. He keeps missing the clues and the answers that he comes across, turn into more complicated questions. He learns about the murder of an acquaintance in a parking lot. As he begins to investigate, Russell is drawn to a small poem that turns out to be a map of a huge treasure. But, when he begins the trail, he wonders whether he is going after treasure or extortion. Russell does not seem sure about his commitment to the case as he was not hired to do it. Still, he goes on to uncover Saskatoon’s hidden history through an initial homestead, a second run film house, and a fallen sportsman. And as Russell continues with his search, he turns into the quarry who is hunted. This makes Russell Quant wonder what he is actually committed to. In the fast paced mystery of this story, Russell Quant is depicted as trying to maintain a balance between his profession and the increasing demands of a memorial, a wedding, and one home cooked meal at his mother’s place. The more Russell Quant keeps himself busy to reluctantly uncover the past, the more his attention gets demanded by the present situations. He finds himself trying to deal with murder, blackmail, and murder again. In the end, Russell Quant does not seem to have gotten over his Hawaiian experience when he gets confronted by the harsh results of indecision, both personally and professionally.

Another mind blowing novel written by Anthony in this interesting novel series is called as ‘Stain of the Berry’. It was also released by the Insomniac publication in 2010. The main characters described in this book include Russell Quant and Sereena. At the beginning of the book, the local citizens of Saskatoon are shown getting killed one after the other. No one is able to establish who or what is killing them, but is suspected that it the work of a boogeyman. Russell is sleeping peacefully after solving his last case and is aroused suddenly by the family members of a victim of suicide. The case turns into a nightmare for Russell Quant as he is asked to find the real reason behind the death of the victim. Russell starts by making a list of the possible suspects who are directly or indirectly related to the victim’s death. Then, he starts narrowing the list by working closely on each suspect in the list. To his surprise, the list never ends and instead goes on increasing. When the trail of clues takes Russell Quant to a huge landscape full of people, including potash miners, trailer park citizens, farm folks, the choir of Pink Gopher, and a psychiatrist, he becomes mystified. The bewilderment of Russell Quant gets more compounded by the perfect and complete disappearance of his old friend named Sereena. In spite of looking for her everywhere, Russell is not able to find her.

The more Russell Quant tries to hunt down the Boogeyman, the more he faces failure as the Boogeyman always seems to be a few steps ahead of him. Russell travels from the summer storms of Saskatchewan to Vancouver’s Lotus Land and his search finally ends in Canadian Arctic, where he finds some hope. And when he returns to his hometown, Russell Quant faces bully attacks. He indulges in a desperate trail through the woods during the midnight as well as a sadistic kidnapping. And when he comes close to penetrate the Boogeyman’s truth, Russell finds himself standing on the suspension bridge between the grown violence and his idyllic childhood. The novel went on to become a huge success among the masses. It was highly appreciated by one and all. In spite of the disturbing material and unconventional storyline, the story was liked by numerous audiences. Author Anthony was lauded by the critics for his excellent character description and plot setup. The book is highly recommended for all those who plan to visit Saskatoon in the future. Because of the tremendous success, author Anthony received a huge boost in his career. He felt motivated to write many other exciting books in his writing career.