Amuse Bouche, by
The Book
Russel Quant, PI is mired in a string of uninteresting cases. In fact, in the year ish he's been in business, he hasn't had an interesting case at all. He's wondering if he made a mistake being a PI. Little does he know when one of Saskatoon's real estate moguls calls him, asking him to take a case and use his discretion, will he be searching for a murderer.
Harold Cheval is a gay man who was about to marry the love of his life Tom XXX. But Tom fails to show. A few days later, Harold is told by a friend that Tom has turned up in France, following the honeymoon itinerary the two had planned in happier times. Harold hires Russell to find out why Tom left him standing at the alter. But not long after Russell comes home from France, Tom's murdered body is discovered at Harold's lake house. Now Harold wants Russell to clear his name.
In a case that will take Russell from his crisp autumn Saskatoon morning, to the south of France, and cause him to wonder if his client is guilty, Russell is up against a very careful planner. A murderer smart enough to establish an alibi and convince the police someone else did it. Can Russell figure out who killed Tom before the murderer kills him?
My Thoughts
Oh wow! I love reading first ever novels. Especially if they're mysteries. First time novelists are unafraid to take risks. To a certain extent, they haven't had the market pigeonhole them, yet. Russel Quant is a fun, gay, PI. The book is set in Canada in the early 2000s (why couldn't we have been the aughts like the last time? Asking for a friend). Back in a time when being gay was just starting to be accepted. Where gay marriage was more of a ceremony than an actual, real, thing. Which is where this book starts.
Also, I love a writer who can keep me guessing until the end who might have murdered our victim. And I was getting down to crunch time with absolutely no idea who might have done it. The clue was so skillfully buried, that despite the cheat at the end, the sidestepping of the one clue that could have wrapped up the case, I missed it. Well done Anthony Bidulka. Well done.
How Much My Library Card Saved Me
This is yet another of the books my friend Jenny snagged for my from the sad closure of her favorite bookstore. As you can tell from the pic, this book sold at that time for $3.00. I have been a decidedly bad owner of this book. In short, someone in my house literally put a fork in it and now there are two small stab wounds in the front of the book that penetrate all the way through the first chapter. I will have no qualms when I go back and re-read the book highlighting the ever living junk out of it, since there's no chance of this thing ever going anywhere.
This Book $0.00
Library Items Reviewed This Year $216.83
Private Books
This Book $03.00
Total of Private Books $55.75
Total of All Items Reviewed This Year $284.58
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