This Thursday, June 11, at 6.30 p.m. at the Reid-Thompson Public Library in Humboldt, crime and mystery author Anthony Bidulka will be answering questions on his latest book. The book is called Quant from the Russell Quant Mystery series.

“That series ran for eight books and had been completed. This new book is coming out about 15 years after the last book in the series. So, it was a bit of a surprise to readers when it was announced earlier this year,” Bidulka said.

Bidulka shares that within the story itself, a fifteen-year time jump has occurred. He feels it’s a unique way to have a one-time reunion, where readers get to visit the characters from the series to see what their lives are like now so many years later. Since the beginning, the lead character, Russell Quant, aged as the books came out.

 

Representing Underrepresented People

“So, if there was two years in between books, he was two years older in the next book and we really got to know his family and his chosen family,” Bidulka said. “I kind of like to sell Russell Quant as the first and only wine-swilling, wisecracking, world-traveling ex-cop, ex-farm boy, gay Canadian prairie private eye being written about anywhere by anyone. He’s a unique character in Canadian crime fiction.”

Russell is a LGBTQ+ detective. Bidulka emphasizes the need for new writers to know why they write. What’s been consistent in his 30 years as an author is the desire to write stories about underrepresented people and places in a way that is accessible and entertaining at the same time.

“That’s something that has been part of my life story too,” Bidulka said. “Identifying as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, identifying as a Ukrainian, identifying as a proud Saskatchewan person, identifying as a Canadian, identifying as a traveler. I mean, those are all big parts of who I am. And I hope it has helped me to write better books and create more realistic characters and contribute to the stories of what it means to be all of those things.”

Saskatchewan Roots

Bidulka grew up in Prud’homme, Saskatchewan, and used one of Prud’homme’s original names for the fictional small town in the novel – Howell. With one exception, every novel in the series also involves travelling to other parts of the world, inspired by places that Bidulka has fallen in love with on his own world travels.

 

As Quant is a story that takes place fifteen years later than the previous book in the series, Bidulka commented on whether there is another story he’s putting off for a later date.

“On the one hand, I’ve often thought about writing outside of my primary genre, which is mystery writing. And I have sometimes thought, well, wouldn’t that be kind of fun to write a romance novel or something that’s a pure thriller or something that’s only comedic. And yet, when I sit down to write or when I sit down and conceptualize what is that next thing, I always find myself drawn back to that why that I talked about a few minutes ago, that the important thing about what I write is servicing that why, like making sure that I’m writing something that does represent these underrepresented people and places, and so then the genre becomes, in some ways, a little less important.”

 

A Literary Titan

With a long career as an author, Anthony Bidulka has many awards for his books.

“You obviously don’t do the work for the awards, but the one thing that I have found over the years is that awards are great to have your work noticed outside of your small little bubble. And particularly, I think, for Canadian writers where our whole market is small and we need to get noticed outside of our provinces and outside of our country to get our work out there. So awards are important. I won’t pretend that they aren’t,” Bidulka said. “Quant actually just recently won its first award. It’s called the Literary Titan Gold Award for fiction, which is very exciting.”

Quant comes out September 30, 2026, and it’s in contention for a number of awards. The book can be purchased wherever you buy your favourite book.

 

“I always love when people support smaller bookstores. If they don’t have it, they can quite easily order it for you and they’d be happy to do that,” Bidulka said.

Anthony Bidulka will be doing a Q&A on June 11 at 6.30 p.m. at the Reid-Thompson Public Library in Humboldt. If you’re a lover of mystery and crime stories, or a writer, this is the perfect time to ask your questions.

See more at Discover Humboldt