William Deverell

"Bill Deverell's Whipped is a rollicking ride through politics, organized crime, and blackmail, with a flash of studded leather thrown in for good measure. Arthur Beauchamp is back in a wild thriller that strikes very close to home. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough." Terry Fallis, two-time winner of the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour

"Once again, legendary lawyer Arthur Beauchamp is dragged from his idyllic retirement on Garibaldi Island, only this time to defend his garrulous wife, Margaret, the Green Party leader, from a rogue microphone and a multi-million dollar slander suit issued by an arrogant cabinet minister with a penchant for being ridden bareback by a whip wielding dominatrix – taking the reader for another wild ride as the great lawyer gradually unleashes his defense of his wife. It's a hoot -- a story with a real snap." Brian Brett, Author of Trauma Farm and Tuco.

Sex, scandal, politics and a sinister New Age guru with the larcenous heart. Yes, we are in the world of Arthur Beauchamp, scion of an old British Columbia family, retired lawyer, raconteur and general gentleman. And, as always, he’s a joy. This time out, Beauchamp’s client is his own wife, Margaret Blake, Leader of the federal Green Party. Margaret is being sued by an MP for leaking a hot little video of him being seriously spanked by a Montreal dominatrix. There’s also a fatwa from the Montreal Mafia. Beauchamp was planning on spending his Golden Years in a hammock on Garibaldi Island but here he is, back planning a defence and wondering if Margaret is really spending all that time working. Or is there someone else? Then there’s the guru. Fans love Deverell for his wit and Beauchamp’s sane Canadian take on the madness of modern life and this one delivers the goods.

And from MARGARET CANNON, THE GLOBE AND MAIL:

Montreal journalist Lou Sabatino, under witness protection after nearly being gunned down by the Mafia, is sucked into the quirky world of a conniving Russian dominatrix who has secretly recorded herself putting the whip to the bare bottom of a high-ranking federal cabinet minister.

It’s the scoop of the century, but too hot a potato — if Lou breaks the story, he risks exposing himself to the mercies of the Mafia. Instead, he shows the video to Green Party leader Margaret Blake. The video is leaked, and Margaret is sued by the minister for $50 million.

Enter Arthur Beauchamp, Margaret’s husband and famed criminal lawyer, who had found — or so he hoped — blissful retirement on idyllic Garibaldi Island on the West Coast. But now he’s representing the woman he loves while tormented by fears that she’s embroiled in an affair.