Photos » Inspiration - Stain of the Berry
This is a set of photographs that inspired specific scenes, locales and/or storylines for the fourth Russell Quant mystery, Stain of the Berry, published in 2006.
Stain of the Berry: A Russell Quant Mystery #4 2007 Saskatchewan Book Award Finalist for Readers Choice Award
2007 Lambda Literary Award Finalist for Best Men’s Mystery
2009 CNIB version, narrated by Michael Saperia
ISBN: 1-897178-24-7; ISBN 13: 978-1-897178-24-9
Everyone has their Boogeyman. But who—or what—is scaring Saskatoon locals to death? Private detective Russell Quant is roused from his sleep only to fall into a nightmare case when the family of a suicide victim hires him to uncover the real cause of death. But what is real and what is imaginary? Quant works to narrow his list of suspects only to find the number of victims growing. Russell is mystified as a trail of fear connects him to a vast landscape of people including an elegant potash miner, dubious trailer park denizens, reticent farm folk, the Pink Gopher choir and a gaseous psychiatrist.
Compounding Quant’s bewilderment is the complete and perfect disappearance of his once very real friend—Sereena—who has become a ghost he simply can’t find. With the Boogeyman always a few paces ahead, Russell struggles to keep the hounds of failure from baying. From Saskatchewan’s summer storms to the menacing Lotus Land of Vancouver, Quant finally touches down in the Canadian Arctic where tragic hope resides. Russell returns home to bully attacks, a desperate chase through midnight woods and a sadistic abduction. As Russell Quant penetrates the truth of the Boogeyman, he finds himself on a perilous suspension bridge between idyllic childhood and grown-up violence.
Chapter 3 "...a curious part of town that time seems to have forgotten..."
Home of V. Madison Steel - Chapter 3
Chapter 6 "Sometimes referred to as Lotus Land...Hollywood North...Vansterdam..."
Finding Duncan Sikorsky in Vancouver - Chapter 6
By Granville Island, Vancouver
Chapter 9 "Jared surprised me with an outing to The Berry Barn..."
The saskatoon berry attack - Chapter 9
Chapter 11 "In surprisingly short order, the jet was hurtling down the runway..."
Abducted by Grette Gauntlus? - Chapter 11
Chapter 14 "Overlooking the river, the tents have a beautiful spot between the Mendel Art Gallery and the University Bridge."
On a late night chase from the Shakespeare on Saskatchewan tents - Chapter 14
Chapter 17_001 "...Hagar's seemed a fitting sentinel for this hidden enclave..."
Discovering Hagar's Heath - Chapter 17
Chapter 17 "...into a land where streets have no names..."
Entering Hagar's Heath - Chapter 17