William Deverell

Lawyer Arthur Beauchamp is facing the most explosive trial of his career: the defence of seven boisterous environmentalists accused of sabotaging an Ontario plant that pumps out a pesticide that has led to the mass death of honeybees. The story zigzags between Toronto, where the trial takes place, and Arthur’s West Coast island home, where he finds himself arrested for fighting his own environmental cause: the threatened destruction of a popular park. The Toronto trial concludes with a tense, hang-by-the-fingernails jury verdict.

At more than 600 pages, this political/environmental thriller is my longest by a literary country mile (though priced affordably). It has been my work-in-progress for the last three years.

Here's Publisher’s Weekly's review January 25, 2021, has jumped the gun. Here's their review of an advance c\:Arthur Ellis Award–winner Deverell’s enjoyable eighth Arthur Beauchamp novel (after 2017’s Whipped) finds the aging British Columbia lawyer starting to feel “that he is over the hill and accelerating down it.” However, he agrees “to strap on his guns one last time” and represent a group of environmental warriors who are charged with an assortment of crimes against Chemican International, which is producing a pesticide in Ontario that’s devastating the honeybee population in Brazil. The action shifts between the antics of sexy activist Rivie Levitsky, who sets out to seduce the director of security operations for Chemican’s Canadian division as part of the activists’ sting operation, and occasionally poignant scenes at Arthur’s farm, where he prepares for trial. A third plotline follows the exploits of two Ontario provincial police officers as they track down the environmentalists. Elegant prose and an endearing lead ease the way through the thicket of environmental issues. Fans of character-driven mysteries will be rewarded.

Other comments from notables:"The great boast of our species is that we are intelligent yet we seem unable to deal with the facts of environmental degradation. Bill Deverell’s Stung provides a powerful insight into why. Read this book and find out!" -- Dr. David Suzuki

“A blistering ride on a flaming meteor.” –– Joy Kogawa, author of acclaimed, award-winning novel Obasan

“Irreverent, bawdy, and boisterous, Deverell’s foray into radical environmentalism on trial keeps the reader riveted until the last page. The courtroom scenes are brilliant.” –– Beverley McLachlin, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada,

“Canada’s Raymond Chandler is at the top of his game in this rollicking, riveting tale of youthful valour versus corporate villainy. Veteran barrister Arthur Beauchamp forsakes his West Coast goat farm for a last great fight in the pitiless law courts of Toronto. Both laugh-aloud funny and profound, Stung is a feast of wit, satire and suspense to keep you up all night.” –– Ronald Wright, author of A Short History of Progress

“Deverell’s Stung is relevant, rich with countless memorable characters, loaded with courtroom suspense, and above all, tremendously readable. Up there with some of my favourite legal thrillers, a list that includes Turow and Connelly.” –– Linwood Barclay, author of Elevator Pitch and A Noise Downstairs

“Some writers get better with age. Stung, William Deverell’s 9th Arthur Beauchamp novel, might be the best yet: it is deliciously witty, politically and ecologically timely, and filled with characters you’d happily spend time with. Deverell isn’t just one of our best crime/mystery writers. He’s one of our best writers, period.” –– Brian Fawcett, author of Virtual Clearcut, winner of the 2003 Hilary Weston Writer’s Trust Prize for Nonfiction.

“No lawyer-turned-writer captures the hurly-burly of practicing real-life criminal law quite like William Deverell with his hilarious, enthralling plots. When it comes to legal thrillers, Deverell’s the real unpretentious deal. Stung is vintage Deverell at his razor-sharp best.” –– Michael Slade, author of the Special X Mountie Noir thrillers

“Deverell deftly takes the sobering ecological catastrophe of crashing bee populations and turns it into a raunchy, rollicking, and riveting tale. It kept me up late laughing, and I wolfishly read it in a couple of days, cheering on the spunky heroine.” –– Dr. David R. Boyd, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Environment

“Arthur Beauchamp fans will not be disappointed as William Deverell takes us on another romp through politics, eco-saboteurs, and all things Green. This time, he adds a great character in Rivie Levitsky –– writing in a woman's first-person voice. A first-class page-turner!” –– Elizabeth May, MP, and former leader of the Green Party of Canada

“In the face of one of the existential environmental challenges of our day, Deverell’s larger than life eco-activists and their lawyers fly into battle. Their tactics may be fictional, but the environmental harm is real. Get ready for a wild ride and hope that Beauchamp wins the day, for the bees and for all of us.” -- Executive Director & Senior Counsel Jessica Clogg, West Coast Environmental Law