Street Legal

Street Legal is Deverell’s sixth novel, written in 1996, and is not one of the Arthur Beauchamp series. I’ve raved about this man’s ability to write crime novels, especially the legal thriller side of that genre, but this one was not his best. You should read Deverell, but don’t start here.

Speeder Cacciati is the operations guy for Billy Sweet, the biggest importer of heroin into Canada, and the local police force is pulling out all stops to catch them, not always staying within legal limits to do so. Mixed into that action was a serial rapist and murderer, as well as the struggles of a criminal defense law firm which is coming apart at the scene due to the marital disharmony of two of the partners. Their clients are fit into the plot lines, one of whom is a multiple personality disorder and another who is a big oaf who writes touching poetry.

For the first time, I’d put Deverell’s novel in the class of “airplane books,” one which might entertain you on a flight from San Diego to Chicago, but which would not keep you from taking a nap. You would not mourn leaving it unfinished on your seat at the end of the flight. Oh well, no one hits a homerun every time.

Sing a Worried Song

This is the 7^th Deverell novel that I’ve reviewed (all favorably), and the sixth and last one in the Arthur Beauchamp series. I am a fan of his writing and this series. He balances serious issues with humor and great characters. Much like the fifth book, in Sing a Worried Song, the author bounces back to an early part of protagonist-lawyer Beauchamp’s career, one in which he acted as a prosecutor, rather than his usual role as a defense attorney, for the thrill murder of a Vancouver street clown, Joyal (Joe) Chumpy. When the jury brought back a guilty verdict and Randolph Skyler was sentenced to life in prison, Skyler promised that he would see Beauchamp killed.

Jump forward 25 years to a time Beauchamp has had a remarkably successful career as a defense attorney, and has now retired and moved to Garibaldi Island, and Beauchamp was in the midst of island festivities when he learned of Skyler’s parole. There is conflicting evidence about whether Skyler has mellowed during his time in prison or if he has harbored the same obsessive fantasy about killing his prosecutor. Deverell successfully hides the resolution of this plot line until the very end of the novel. As with the other Deverell books, this one is a winner and gets my strong recommendation.

Deverell has published at least 17 novels, so now that I’ve gotten through all of the Beauchamp books, I’ll find one of his others to read. And, I can hope that this 79-year-old author still has more Beauchamp stories to come.

I'll See You In My Dreams

I’ll See You in My Dreams is the fifth of six books in the Arthur Beauchamps series, the sixth book that I’ve read by this author, and if you’ve been following my posts, you know I’ve become a devotee of William Deverell. This one is a remarkably clever crime novel. Through the first four books, Deverell sometimes refers back to Beauchamps earlier dysfunctional days of alcoholism and a failed marriage, all happening while he built a reputation as one of Canada’s most able criminal defense attorneys. But, the backstory was never filled in, until now. In this novel, the author jumps back and forth between 1962 and the present. In 1962, Beauchamps was just 25 years old, fresh out of law school, struggling to decide if he really wanted to be a lawyer, and his firm threw a murder case his way as a means of keeping this talented man in their firm. That first murder trial did not work out so well for Beauchamps and haunted him for the next 50 years.

While this novel could be a stand-alone book, it’s my advice to start at the beginning (Trial of Passion) and work your way forward. The gradual character development of Beauchamps and his cast of characters is too good to miss. This novel involves Arthur trying to correct the bad outcome of a 50-year-old case. Although his client, Gabriel Swift, was convicted of the murder of Professor Dermot Mulligan, the body was never found and Swift escaped to South America. In the course of the book, Deverell not only fleshed out Arthur’s troubled past and recovery from the depth of substance abuse, but he also delved into the Canadian government’s long history of mistreatment of its indigenous peoples. The author continues to poke fun at the legal system and the human failings of its most prominent jurists. I’ve gotten pretty good at predicting story lines and anticipating where an author is headed, but I have to say that the resolution of this story is one that I did not see coming until the author presented it in the last few pages. My advice – read William Deverell.

Snow Job

If you’ve been following my blog posts, you know that I’ve become a devotee of Canadian crime novelist William Deverell. Snow Job is the sixth novel of his that I’ve read, the fourth in the Arthur Beauchamp series, and I’m hooked. If you’re new to this author, start at the beginning with Trial of Passion, and you’ll be able to enjoy the character development as the author intended. The story line evolution over the course of these books is remarkable, starting with Beauchamp, a retiring attorney, a master of criminal defense, moving from his home in Vancouver to the rural island of Garibaldi, a short sea plane hop from Vancouver. In the recent book, he’s remarried to an environmental activist who has been elected as Canada’s only Green Party member of Parliament. The action has shifted to Ottawa. While keeping the crazy characters from Garibaldi involved in this new book, Ottawa serves as a launching pad for Beauchamp’s international adventures. There are two more books in this series, and I’ve already downloaded the next one, I’ll See You in My Dreams.

Kill All The Judges

This is my fifth Deverell book, another crime novel, this being the third in the Arthur Beauchamp series. Beauchamp is now 69 years old, a retired trial attorney of note in Vancouver, Canada, who is two years from his last stint in the courtroom and who once again gets lured back to take a new case, of course a case that should be impossible to win. While just as clever as the other four that I’ve read, there was a cumbersome quality to this one, especially in the first third of the book. I actually re-read the first 25% of the book because I was confused about what was happening with the characters, something I’d be unwilling to do with most other authors.

While Deverell is developing the story of the death of several judges, he also reintroduced the character of Brian Pomeroy, a younger and gifted lawyer, but one who is lost to the ravages of polysubstance abuse, narcissism, martial disharmony, and writer’s block. Beauchamp refers the case of the apparent killer of the judges to Pomeroy only to see the man come fully unglued. Pomeroy, a frustrated author, is lost between the story line in his own unfinished novel and the case he is supposed to be defending. His own characters are the very same characters that are involved in the legal action, but their behavior in his book does not always correspond with their actions in the main plot of Deverell’s book. And, Pomeroy keeps trying to spice up his own story by adding new juicy characters. So, it’s confusing, and when Pomeroy crashes and is admitted to rehab, Beauchamp comes to the rescue of the case and reads the manuscript, he too is confused. Some of the manuscript seems to be predictive of the action of the persons who are still alive.

Are you still with me? Deverell further develops the character of Wentworth Chance, yet another young lawyer who idolizes Beauchamp. In the course of the book, Beauchamp’s wife runs for a seat in parliament for the Green Party. Beauchamp’s 14-year-old grandson comes to visit and immediately inserts himself into the action. There is bawdy humor and tongue-in-cheek spoofery of the legal system. Try this author, and your vocabulary will get a work out. I’ve already acquired another Beauchamp book – stay tuned.