About
Reviews
Search
Submit
Home

Mystery Books for Sale

[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]


  

APRIL FOOL
by William Deverell
McClelland and Stewart, October 2005
424 pages
$36.99CDN
ISBN: 0771027117


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Life has been pretty good of late for Arthur Beauchamp, retired criminal lawyer and active keeper of goats. True, he has suffered from time to time from what the television ads tactfully call ED, although he is besotted with his new wife, Margaret. But on the whole, retirement on British Columbia's Garibaldi Island has been kind to him -- he is off the booze and free to contemplate nature and the oddities of his neighbours.

Sadly, no Eden lasts and Arthur's is invaded by not one, but two serpents. First, his wife climbs a tree to protest at the commercial development of a bit of uncut forest, a stay that stretches from a promised three days to an unendurable almost two months.

Then, to make things worse, a former client of his, Nick the Owl Faloon, a 54-year-old out-of-practice jewel thief, has been arrested on a charge of rape and murder. The Owl is out of practice because he's newly out of jail, having served a considerable amount of time for raping a freelance journalist. Arthur was sure of his client's innocence the first time and, self-doubter that he is, blames himself for the conviction. Now he is equally sure that Nick is not guilty and he is determined to get him off.

Thus he shuttles between Vancouver and the island, worried about his wife, his goats, and his own state of competence after six years of rustic bliss. He is also worried about the whereabouts of his client, who has flown the coop and is being tried in absentia.

He is aided on both fronts by two young lawyers from Sierra Legal Defence -- Lotis Rudnicki, an eco-guerilla who wears a Rise Up tee-shirt and smokes, and Selwyn Loo, whose photographic memory for legal precedent is a useful talent in a blind counsellor.

Though slightly stuffy Arthur takes a dim view of them, especially Lotis, they prove exceptionally helpful and very engaging along the way. What ensues is a lively courtroom drama with elements of a traditional puzzle mystery, punctuated by periodic returns to the ecological protest and to the loveliness of Nature itself.

In general, I do not usually care much for mysteries with large numbers of cleverly-named and eccentric characters. Nor do I much enjoy those written in the present tense. But Deverell got right through my defences this time, especially in the attractive portrait of his ageing protagonist, with his insecurities, his Latin tags, his courtly, unintentional sexism, and his formidable cross-examination skills. His loving descriptions of the natural landscape, based on his own residence on Pender Island, BC, are also delightful.

Arthur Beauchamp first appeared in 1997 in TRIAL OF PASSION and is back now despite Deverell's own rule against series characters. I for one hope that the author breaks the rule again and soon.

Reviewed by Yvonne Klein, September 2005

[ Top ]


QUICK SEARCH:

 

Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]