While Scott Turow set the standard with Presumed Innocent in 1987, John Grisham later became the biggest name in legal thrillers, and Michael Connelly’s ‘Mickey Haller’ series raised the bar, an argument can be made that the finest writer of legal fiction in North America actually resides north of the border, in Canadian maestro William Deverell.

A doyen of Canadian letters, Deverell is akin to Peter Temple; a singular crime writer who elevates their local genre to new literary heights, with their own inimitable style. Deverell, a leading courtroom lawyer as well as a renowned storyteller, has written a series starring the bumblingly brilliant Arthur Beauchamp that is a delight, mixing drama in and out of court with unforgettable characters, piercing social issues, and plenty of satire. Recently republished, Kill All the Judges is a classic; Beauchamp has retired to rural life on one of the Gulf Islands off Vancouver, so he has no interest in defending ribald local poet Cud Brown against a murder charge.

But when hotshot Vancouver attorney Brian Pomeroy, who Arthur pointed Cud to, turns up in a rehab facility suffering drug-induced paranoia, Arthur reluctantly takes on the case. Deverell delivers a beguiling, highly entertaining novel with sublime prose, eccentric characters and near-madcap events that balance out some of the heavy subject matter. Fabulous characterisation; a novel full of wit, fun, and humanity.

Reviewed by Craig Sisterson