No one is more pleased than ?Ottawa bookseller David Rimmer when Anthony Bidulka produces a new novel featuring private detective Russell Quant. “I sell 250 to 300 copies of Tony’s books every year,” says Rimmer, who operates After Stonewall, Ottawa’s only gay bookstore. ?    Not that Bidulka’s following is limited to the gay community. According to Gillian Rodgerson, his editor at the Toronto-based Insomniac Press, the Russell Quant series attracts mystery fans of all stripes. “With his sales, his profile, his popularity,” says Rodgerson, “I can’t think of anyone else we could compare him to in Canada.”

Indeed, the Saskatoon-based author – whose seventh Quant book, Date with a Sheesha, publishes this month – is the only successful creator of a continuing gay detect-ive series set in Canada. (There are other Canadian authors of gay detective series, including Jeffrey Round and Pat Brown, but the action in their books takes place south of the border.) Every Quant title begins and ends in Saskatoon, even if the cute, thirtysomething private eye travels to far-flung locales in between. “I’m basically just falling back on that old model of ‘write what you know,’” says Bidulka.

Initially, Bidulka worried that his choice of setting might limit his audience, but it hasn’t turned out that way. “When I started, I thought the most unique thing about the character was that he was gay, but it turns out the thing readers are most interested in is that he’s from Saskatchewan,” he laughs. Furthermore, according to Rodgerson, at least half of Bidulka’s sales come from the U.S., possibly due to his insistence on touring there as widely as possible.

Bidulka’s most significant fan base, however, is still in his hometown, where he’s considered part of the literary mainstream. His previous Quant book, Aloha, Candy Hearts, was a finalist for the 2009 Book of the Year at the Saskatchewan Book Awards. And his annual Saskatoon launch parties – themed to match whatever exotic setting is featured in the latest plot – are among the city’s most highly anticipated social events.

Part of the Quant series’ broad appeal may have something to do with Bidulka’s decision to leave sex off the page. Though the books have a definite gay sensibility – with particular attention paid to cuddly dogs and hunky men – there’s nothing particularly naughty in them. “Readers have told me they think it’s kind of refreshing, actually,” says Bidulka. “Oftentimes, gay genre titles are just expected to have a lot of sex, and I don’t agree with that equation.”

On the whole, Bidulka sees himself as a writer of mysteries first, a gay genre author second. His idols, he says, have always been A-list mystery writers such as Saskat-chewan’s Gail Bowen and Quebec’s Louise Penny. “I joke that [Penny] has got the career I want,” he says.

Which isn’t to say Bidulka doesn’t court his gay readership. As long as people keep reading, he’ll produce a new Quant title every year. “I don’t see an end to them unless I kill him off,” says Bidulka, “which I have no intention of doing.”