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Kill All The Judges (M&S $34.99)
Having won the 2006 Arthur Ellis Award for his novel April Fool, William Deverell has again brought his lawyer protagonist Arthur Beauchamp out of retirement for Kill All The Judges, a title that harkens back to Deverell's Kill All The Lawyers, published in 2001.
Deverell's 15th book opens with a deranged court clerk who fires a pistol at a presiding judge but the intended bullet is taken in the heart by a police officer who heroically jumps in its way.
This incident is creative non-fiction, a story within the novel, written by one of its main characters. As the title suggests, there are several judges who meet their demise in the story. One succumbs to food poisoning from eating a portion of tainted duck a l'orange, another vanishes off a wharf, and a third's curiosity mysteriously ends his life.
Arthur Beauchamp is asked to step into the main trial in the novel at the last moment (after much resistance on his part) to act for the accused in the murder case of a judge who may have suspicious ties to the federal government in Ottawa.
In typical Deverell fashion there is plenty of humour that threads its way through this novel. Felicity, who desperately wants to be a poet, speaks in nearly perfect verse tones. "Just like a greeting card!"; Beauchamp says.
Some butter ends up on the fly of a man's pants as result of a little under the table accident, and poor Arthur discovers incriminating evidence in his grandson's possessions. Other hot evidence is found in the local community centre.
The novel has its tense moments, too, particularly during the trial of the accused. A near-sighted retired theatre diva is asked to identify a suspect from the witness box. She is not able to see past the end of her nose and must make her way slowly around the silent room. Every character who has raised suspicions throughout the novel is sitting in the courtroom following or avoiding her gaze.
Many of the memorable characters that joined Beauchamp in April Fool return here and Deverell presents his characters as if they were old acquaintances or new friends. Beauchamp fans will remember lawyer Brian Pomeroy, Margaret Blake (the love of Arthur's life), crabby centenarian Winnie Gillicuddy and Nelson Forbish, the ever-prying-for-details editor of The Bleat, to name just a few.
Margaret has moved from saving eagles to wanting to stretch her political aspirations nationwide. Poor Brian Pomeroy has become tired of his profession and the trials of his everyday life and sets off on a different path.
Wentworth Chance, who works with Arthur, is a new character to Beauchamp mysteries-young, green and keen. He adores the legal profession
and aspires to follow in Beauchamp's footsteps. Chance plays a big part in this novel, and this reviewer hopes to read more stories about him again.
Arthur remains crusty but compassionate. Like many of us, he does not know how to say "No"; and frequently wishes he had. He would rather be relaxing, fishing, spending time with his grandson or reading from Virgil's Aeneid. Is he really William Deverell in disguise? The question is part of the appeal for this series.
Figuring prominently in the story is the intersection of Main and Keefer in Vancouver's Chinatown and a posh condominium in what appears to be False Creek. Glimpses of Gastown, Maple Leaf Square and Garibaldi Island, where much of the novel occurs (or is it really North Pender Island where Deverell makes his home?) also form part of the landscape of the novel.
Kill All the Judges provides a delightful, witty and satisfying read. And the culprit...well sorry, that's a secret that must be kept.
Deverell was born in Regina in 1937 and by 1964 he was practicing law in British Columbia and continues to do so. The television series Street Legal which ran for eight seasons on CBC-TV was co-created by Deverell, who also wrote its pilot episode. 0-7710-2721-4
-- review by James Tyler Irvine
[BCBW 2008]
Deverell's 15th book opens with a deranged court clerk who fires a pistol at a presiding judge but the intended bullet is taken in the heart by a police officer who heroically jumps in its way.
This incident is creative non-fiction, a story within the novel, written by one of its main characters. As the title suggests, there are several judges who meet their demise in the story. One succumbs to food poisoning from eating a portion of tainted duck a l'orange, another vanishes off a wharf, and a third's curiosity mysteriously ends his life.
Arthur Beauchamp is asked to step into the main trial in the novel at the last moment (after much resistance on his part) to act for the accused in the murder case of a judge who may have suspicious ties to the federal government in Ottawa.
In typical Deverell fashion there is plenty of humour that threads its way through this novel. Felicity, who desperately wants to be a poet, speaks in nearly perfect verse tones. "Just like a greeting card!"; Beauchamp says.
Some butter ends up on the fly of a man's pants as result of a little under the table accident, and poor Arthur discovers incriminating evidence in his grandson's possessions. Other hot evidence is found in the local community centre.
The novel has its tense moments, too, particularly during the trial of the accused. A near-sighted retired theatre diva is asked to identify a suspect from the witness box. She is not able to see past the end of her nose and must make her way slowly around the silent room. Every character who has raised suspicions throughout the novel is sitting in the courtroom following or avoiding her gaze.
Many of the memorable characters that joined Beauchamp in April Fool return here and Deverell presents his characters as if they were old acquaintances or new friends. Beauchamp fans will remember lawyer Brian Pomeroy, Margaret Blake (the love of Arthur's life), crabby centenarian Winnie Gillicuddy and Nelson Forbish, the ever-prying-for-details editor of The Bleat, to name just a few.
Margaret has moved from saving eagles to wanting to stretch her political aspirations nationwide. Poor Brian Pomeroy has become tired of his profession and the trials of his everyday life and sets off on a different path.
Wentworth Chance, who works with Arthur, is a new character to Beauchamp mysteries-young, green and keen. He adores the legal profession
and aspires to follow in Beauchamp's footsteps. Chance plays a big part in this novel, and this reviewer hopes to read more stories about him again.
Arthur remains crusty but compassionate. Like many of us, he does not know how to say "No"; and frequently wishes he had. He would rather be relaxing, fishing, spending time with his grandson or reading from Virgil's Aeneid. Is he really William Deverell in disguise? The question is part of the appeal for this series.
Figuring prominently in the story is the intersection of Main and Keefer in Vancouver's Chinatown and a posh condominium in what appears to be False Creek. Glimpses of Gastown, Maple Leaf Square and Garibaldi Island, where much of the novel occurs (or is it really North Pender Island where Deverell makes his home?) also form part of the landscape of the novel.
Kill All the Judges provides a delightful, witty and satisfying read. And the culprit...well sorry, that's a secret that must be kept.
Deverell was born in Regina in 1937 and by 1964 he was practicing law in British Columbia and continues to do so. The television series Street Legal which ran for eight seasons on CBC-TV was co-created by Deverell, who also wrote its pilot episode. 0-7710-2721-4
-- review by James Tyler Irvine
[BCBW 2008]
Submitted on March 8, 2008 in By David.
