Trial of Passion
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4.6 • 5 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Winner of the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Mystery Novel, 1998
Winner of the Dashiell Hammett Award, 1998
Arthur Beauchamp, one of Vancouver’s most heralded criminal lawyers, has moved to a quiet island off the British Columbia coast. He’s trying to recover from a marriage gone sour, but his retirement is interrupted by his former law partners — they want Arthur to take charge of the defence trial of Jonathan O’Donnell, the acting dean of the law school. O’Donnell has been accused of rape by one of his students, Kimberley Martin, a smart but arrogant woman who is engaged to a rich businessman. If convicted, O’Donnell understands that his career will implode; he believes that only Arthur Beauchamp can save his professional life. After much pleading, Beauchamp agrees to handle the case. He is drawn into a complex legal situation dealing with gender and sex, while his personal life takes a provocative turn as well. A courtroom drama ensues, with unpredictable twists and bizarre events.
When published in Canada, Trial of Passion won the 1998 Arthur Ellis Award for Best Mystery Novel. And even though it hadn’t yet been released in the U.S., the book was nevertheless winner of the 1998 Dashiell Hammett Award “for a work of literary excellence in the field of crime writing” as chosen by the North American branch of the International Association of Crime Writers.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
A deeply flawed attorney faces his own demons as he investigates a murder in this character-driven thriller. Fleeing his failing marriage and his own dark past, Vancouver attorney Arthur Beauchamp is drawn out of retirement to defend Jonathan O’Donnell, dean of a local law school, who has been accused of a horrific crime against a student. The evidence against O’Donnell appears to be damning at first, but as Beauchamp builds his defense, he finds the truth isn’t what it seems—not about the case, or about his own shattered, loveless marriage. In the book that launched this beloved series, Canadian legal-thriller superstar (and real-life attorney) William Deverell touchingly conveys the angst of his alcoholic hero, giving Beauchamp’s vulnerability and intelligence just as much attention as he does the excitement of a sensational murder trial. Trial of Passion made us fall for Beauchamp and left us reaching for the next book in his series.
