Stain of the Berry: A Russell Quant Mystery

Darleen R. Golke is a high-school teacher-librarian in Abbotsford, B.C.

A middle-of-the-night phone call from a distraught woman insisting that
the bogeyman is “coming to get her” awakens Russell Quant. Upon
learning that the woman committed suicide the same night, the gay
Saskatoon private investigator accepts the pleas of Tanya’s surviving
family to find the truth about her life and death. The complicated
investigation, which initially reveals little information about the
“woman of compromised mental strength,” eventually reveals links
between two apparently accidental deaths and a pattern of harassment
experienced by members of the LGBT Pink Gophers chorus. One of the
victims of this harassment is Jared, a Pink Gophers member who happens
to be a close friend of Russell’s.

On a personal level, partnerless Russell dreads his upcoming 35th
birthday and attendant celebrations. Another source of frustration is
his unsuccessful and financially draining attempts to find his friend
Sereena, who disappeared months ago. In the midst of both
investigations, Russell is whisked off to an Arctic lodge and presented
with some startling and heartbreaking family revelations tied to
Sereena’s vanishing act.

The “six-foot-one, fresh-faced, sandy-haired Adonis” hero combines
toughness and vulnerability with his keen investigative skills. Stain of
the Berry incorporates a familiar set of secondary characters (both gay
and straight), an eclectic mix of minor characters, a collection of
possible bogeymen, an appropriately hateful villain, vivid descriptions
of Saskatoon and its environs, and signature travel sequences to
Vancouver and the Far North. Although the resolution of Sereena’s
disappearance tends to stretch credibility, Stain of the Berry engages
the reader’s attention, and its emotionally charged conclusion signals
further exploration of a complex and entertaining protagonist.