“It’s a surefire winner.” — Publishers Weekly

Arthur Beauchamp is mortified. A biography of his early career as a lawyer paints him as a dissolute womanizer. So he sweats over a memoir that he hopes will set the record straight about a headline murder case he fought as a starry-eyed young lawyer in 1966. A trial that seemed bound to mark him as a pathetic loser.

The background: a young housemaid is violently sexually assaulted by her employer, a callous, vindictive multi-millionaire. She shoots him point blank and tearfully confesses to police. It’s an open-and-shut case of first-degree murder — or so it seems.

Haunted by having bungled his only previous murder case, Arthur is pressed into service by his firm to take on a sure loser. But the odds shift as the trial speeds through explosive twists and turns.

While writing his memoir, Arthur learns that it’s not easy to raise a defence against his social gaffes and booze-induced sex scandals, especially as he runs afoul of the quirky characters who inhabit his supposedly idyllic Garibaldi Island.

William Deverell's profile page

After careers as a journalist, criminal lawyer, and political activist, William Deverell turned to fiction, and his first effort won the Seal First Novel Award. Since then, he has earned multiple prizes for his 20 published novels, including the Dashiell Hammett Prize for literary excellence in crime writing in North America, two Crime Writers of Canada Awards (formerly the Arthur Ellis Award), and two runners-up for the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour. He lives on Pender Island in British Columbia.

“Deverell paces his story beautifully and weaves in some final surprises.” — The New York Times Book Review

“Deverell shines in his clever latest outing for Arthur Beauchamp … The ingenious framing device and surprise-packed courtroom action put this on the level of the series’ best entries. It’s a surefire winner.” — Publishers Weekly

“William Deverell’s popular Arthur Beauchamp series, which began in 1997, is a legal thriller that explores perceptions of truth. Filled with twists, deceptions, and conspiracy theories, the story concerns the social, cultural, and political values underwriting Canadian society.” — Bookworm, Literary Review of Canada’s newsletter

“For those who have read any of Deverell’s books, you know that the promise you make to yourself to read “just one more chapter,” before lights out is like promising yourself you won’t have any (more) wine on a Saturday night.” — Cece Scott Writing and Photography blog

“In stating the obvious, it’s easy to be carried away by Deverell’s storytelling skills.” — The British Columbia Review

“Beautifully written and haunting, this is one of Deverell’s best.” — Globe and Mail