Winston Patrick, a successful lawyer but dissatisfied with his career defending the downtrodden of Vancouver’s criminal world, trades in the courtroom for the high school classroom. Soon Winston’s past life meets his present when a student accuses a fellow colleague of a teacher-student love affair. Reluctantly, Winston agrees to provide legal defence, but the case takes an even uglier turn: the student is murdered, making her alleged lover the prime suspect. And this is no ordinary student. With her family connections reaching as high as the Prime Minister’s office, Winston and his friend Detective Andrea Pearson find themselves immersed in a murder investigation that could cause an international incident, if it doesn’t cost Winston his own life first.

David Russell was born and raised in Burnaby, B.C. He received a diploma in Performing Arts Theatre, a Bachelor of Education degree from Simon Fraser University and Masters Degree in Educational and Public Policy Management from the University of Oregon. A long time member of the arts community in Vancouver, Russell has worked in stage and television, including performing as a company member with the world champion improvisation company the Vancouver TheatreSports League for over fifteen years, where he continues to perform today. He hosted a youth television program on the Global Television network and was host and co-producer for six years of a Vancouver-based talk show. Russell has written freelance for a number of publications, including Maclean’s, The Vancouver Sun, The Province and the award-winning online news site The Tyee, and others. His first novel, Deadly Lessons, revolves around Winston Patrick, who has given up the practice of law for the practice of teaching, only to find himself in the middle of the investigation of the murder of a student at his school, a murder in which the accused is one of his own teaching colleagues. The novel was shortlisted for the Arthur Ellis Award for best first novel. A sequel, Last Dance, will be published in the spring of 2011. In addition to writing and performing, Russell teaches high school law and history part time.

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