Amuse Bouche: A Russell Quant Mystery

Here is Russell Quant's first adventure. In this book you get not only a wonderful mystery that keeps the reader involved from beginning to end, but this is where you first meet the friends that will grow with complexity as this series continues. Re-reading Amuse Bouche after finishing the latest RQ mystery I was taken again by how much I like this sleuth and how the author isn't afraid to make his characters evolve - sometimes on the page, sometimes in our minds - and draw us on to the next book, not only for the simple joy of reading a well-written and witty and thoughtful book, but to see what has happened in the lives of Russell and Errall and Anthony and Sereena and all the others.

Amuse Bouche is a witty, inventive, attractive beginning to what is turning out to be a terrificly entertaining series that draws you in with each passing page and each passing book and has you reaching out with anticipation of a few good nights of reading whenever you see the next one. Although seemingly set up with all the regular conventions of the mystery genre, the author goes beyond with a unique hero, a bevy of curious characters, interesting locales and a solid mystery to boot. I was right there with Russell, every step of the way.

Amuse Bouche is aptly titled - amuse me it did. And much more - the mystery certainly kept my interest, but what really kept the pages turning were the story's affable and engaging hero, Russell Quant and the people and places that surround him. This is fine story telling by a fine new writer. I look forward to more.

Mr. Bidulka has another fan in California. I love mystery novels and this is the beginning of a really terrific series. Russell Quant and his family and friends are such believable and interesting people the reader feels like he/she is being told a true story...maybe it is, I don't know. Every time I thought I knew where the author was going, he took a slightly different turn that kept me turning the pages. I immediately bought the second in the series and it is even better and now I see a third is on its way this fall. I know what I'm taking on holiday this winter...and what gift will end up in many Xmas stockings.

The title at first made me wonder, what kind of mystery is this? And I was right to wonder. Although this story (about a groom gone missing from a gay wedding) is a first rate mystery all the way,I sometimes forgot I was reading a mystery. I got to experience the sights and smells, good food and wine of a foreign country. I was immersed in the tale of a tragic love story and later some randy stuff too. I chuckled out loud at some of the hero's quips. Russell Quant is one funny man. I finished Amuse Bouche with the same feeling I get when I've completed a particularly fine meal with a lot of courses and unique flavours. Looking forward to more.