Set in Vancouver in 1907, Better the Devil You Know is the outrageous tale of three unique and curious characters: the small-time con man who passes himself off as an evangelical preacher, the scrawny street-worker whom he reluctantly befriends, and the five-year-old hellion left in his care by a former lady friend. In the course of their adventures, these three misfits become involved with a larcenous lingerie salesman, a Klondike miner bent on recovering his stolen poke, a madam intent on revenge for past wrongs, a pugilistic lady barkeep, two doctors determined to acquire a cadaver of their own, a handful of incompetent and corrupt cops, and a piano teacher with reforming zeal. The pace is riotous, the action continuous, and nobody— good or bad—ever gets a break.

Betty Keller's profile page

If you’re looking for a fast-paced, funny paperback to while away an afternoon at the beach or a ferry lineup or two, you could do worse than pick up Betty Keller’s latest. Better the Devil You Know is an outrageous romp of a novel set in turn-of-the-century Vancouver when Gastown was still the hub of the fast-evolving city.

Beth Haysom, the Times Colonist