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Arthur Beauchamp #1

Trial of Passion

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Arthur Beauchamp is Vancouver's leading criminal attorney. He's also an alcoholic with an unfaithful wife and a desperate need for solitude. So when he turns his back on his life and settles down on an island off the Pacific coast, it looks like a premature but very permanent retirment. Then one last case draws him back. The dean of law at a local university is charged with the sadomasochistic rape of one of his students. The evidence against the defendant is overwhelming. And he's lied again and again—to the police, his therapist, his attorneys.

If anyone can save him, Beauchamp can. But first Beauchamp has to save himself—from the memories of his painful past and the torment of his inner demons. And then he has to face the choice that has haunted him throughout his career: does he serve his client—or tell the truth?

413 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

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371 people want to read

About the author

William Deverell

62 books68 followers
William Deverell was born in 1937 in Regina, Saskatchewan. He put himself through law school by working as a journalist for the Canadian Press, Vancouver Sun, and Saskatoon Star-Phoenix. Deverell served as counsel for over a thousand criminal cases and is a founding director and former president of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association. He created the television series, Street Legal, and has written screenplays and radio plays. Deverell lives on Pender Island, British Columbia.

Awards:
Arthur Ellis Award
* 1998 – Trial of Passion – Winner
* 2006 – April Fool – Winner

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5 stars
75 (26%)
4 stars
122 (43%)
3 stars
61 (21%)
2 stars
18 (6%)
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5 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
Profile Image for Matt.
4,834 reviews13.1k followers
August 9, 2017
New to the world of William Deverell, I could not think of a more interesting series to read than that of Arthur Beauchamp. Pair a legal/courtroom drama with a Canadian setting and I was curious from the get-go. Arthur Beauchamp has made a name for himself in the Vancouver legal community as a razor-sharp defence attorney. However, with brambles in both his public and private lives, Beauchamp has decided to settle in Garibaldi, off the mainland of British Columbia. In an attempt to hit his own personal reset button, Beauchamp must acclimate to the more rural lifestyle that presents itself, while still answering questions about this drastic change from family and some friends. Slow to accept the small-town feel, Beauchamp remains steadfast in his desire to remain out of the legal fray, even when a significant case makes headlines and his name is bandied about to defend Professor Jonathan O’Donnell, current Dean of Law at UBC. During an affair with one of his students, Kimberley Martin, O’Donnell is said to have confined and raped her, though the entire ordeal is clouded in an alcoholic haze. As the preliminary hearing progresses in the narrative, Beauchamp is involved in his own legal matter in Garibaldi, with a neighbour who shows that she, too, can be pig-headed when it comes to the law. After mending proverbial fences with Mrs. Margaret Blake, Beauchamp can finally let down his personal wall and agrees to defend O’Donnell, whose significant fees are being covered without blinking an eye. By the time Beauchamp sinks his teeth into the case, there seems to be much more than a simple rape at hand, as the encounter was preceded by a law school party and intense flirting. Add to that, the ongoing sexual encounters that Martin and O’Donnell shared and things begin to take on an entirely new meaning. Armed with a somewhat sturdy defence, Beauchamp is prepared to cross paths with the Crown, though neither could have expected how a newly-appointed judge might handle proceedings. Beauchamp must dodge many a bullet to show that O’Donnell is not the fiend the Crown wishes to make him out to be and that Ms. Martin is anything but the innocent student lured into her professor’s lair. Deverell presents this somewhat meandering legal thriller to the reader and entertains while building a high-brow narrative that is sure to have helped garner him significant literary awards. Not for those who want a superficial legal read, but well worth the invested time of a dedicated reader.

Let me be the first to admit, literary awards mean little to me as a reader. I am more interested in a story that I will enjoy, rather than a panel of individuals seeking high-brow amusement and discovering symbolism in every verb. Deverell has laid the groundwork for an excellent series here by developing Arthur Beauchamp as not only a well-established lawyer, but one who seeks to reinvent himself. His struggle to come to terms with his wife’s decision to divorce and his attempts to adapt to rural living prove to be the ideal fodder to shape this man into someone the reader can enjoy. There is much yet to be said about Beauchamp, but I am intrigued to see if Garibaldi will remain the settling for the series, as it is a wonderful place for the reader to learn more about the aforementioned contrasts. As with any series that seeks to take the protagonist out of their comfort zone, there will be many interesting characters who emerge. Margaret Blake is one that proves to be both a thorn in Beauchamp’s side and yet curries favour with him to the point of commencing something romantic. I am eager to see where Deverell takes that, should he allow them to continue this romantic entanglement. The premise of the book was very strong and the legal aspects kept me thinking throughout, though the presentation left something to be desired. As I began reading, I found myself trying to hack through much of the verbiage that Deverell presents to come to terms with the narrative’s intended effect. Use of extensive Latin and thesaurus-rendering vocabulary left me pondering how long it would take to develop a fondness for the story. By waiting, I was able to survive the slow ascent this literary rollercoaster took and treat myself to a stunning rush once the courtroom matters began building. I soon became hooked, even with stunningly long chapters to present the point at hand. Deverell will hopefully have only used this in the opening novel, though seeing the gem at the end, I will try to persevere, should the follow-up novel be as wordy. The courtroom aspects of the novel propel the story forward and the unique style Beauchamp brings to the defence kept me wanting to learn more and witness things firsthand. I suspect that if the rest of the series, to date, is as legally balanced, I am in for a wonderful binge-read.
Kudos, Mr. Deverell for being able to balance the law and Canada in equal measure. While the setting is not quintessential in this piece you have made me proud to see a Canadian legal thriller of such high quality is available for those who want it.

Like/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
Profile Image for Paul Weiss.
1,467 reviews548 followers
June 28, 2024
“… a full fleshed woman of the type celebrated by the Dutch masters.”

Having finally admitted to himself that his marriage exists only in legal fact, Arthur Beauchamp, one of Vancouver’s leading criminal attorneys, retreats to a more peaceful, almost Bohemian, homestead on one of the Gulf Islands off British Columbia’s Pacific Coast. But when the dean of the law school at the local university is charged with the sadomasochistic rape of one of his young students, his former firm cajoles him into returning to the courts for one last case. TRIAL OF PASSION is the gripping story of two trials, Beauchamp’s brilliant defense of a client who appears to be unable to tell the same story two days in a row – let alone what might actually be the truth – and Beauchamp’s own tale of coming to grips with the demise of his marriage, his continuing alcoholism and the bewildering unfamiliarity of new love.

William Deverell’s writing, in short, must be celebrated as a Canadian national treasure. TRIAL OF PASSION, a first person narrative by Arthur Beauchamp in its entirety, is gripping, heartwarming, exciting, provocative, moving and even informative. The close-up experience of sitting first chair as a defense attorney in a gripping murder trial will make your heart beat faster. The experience of being a long-time sober but undoubtedly continuing alcoholic will occasionally bring you to tears. Beauchamp’s terror at the notion of being newly single and courting an adult woman with the possibility of sex will make every reader nod with understanding and compassion. If you’re actually Canadian, Deverell’s description of island life in the lotus land of BC’s Gulf Islands will definitely have you contemplating what it might be like to live there.

In short, TRIAL OF PASSION is an unqualified winner that I can hardly recommend highly enough. APRIL FOOL and KILL ALL THE JUDGES, #2 and #3 in the Beauchamp series, have definitely climbed to the top of my reading list.

Paul Weiss
Profile Image for Bonnie.
169 reviews311 followers
October 23, 2008
Not only the winner of the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel, but also won the Dashielll Hammett Prize for excellence in crime writing.

I thoroughly enjoyed the read, even though I read it last (first in the series). This time I felt as though I was on an extended holiday -- on the hindheels of reading the first two.

I haven't read a crime novel in quite a while, although in the past I read one after another, but it is my opinion that William (Bill) Deverell beats them all for sheer entertainment and good writing.

Can't wait for the next Arthur Beauchamp!
Profile Image for Rosemarie Boll.
Author 1 book10 followers
October 15, 2011
William Deverell is a well-known Canadian lawyer and writer (he’s also the creator of the popular TV show Street Legal). His 1997 novel Trial of Passion is set in British Columbia. It tells the story of Arthur Beauchamp, a 63-year-old burnt-out lawyer who’s looking to leave all his emotional baggage behind and start a new life in retirement. He’s a likeable fellow with a troubled past. Impotent and trapped in a loveless marriage, estranged from an emotionally-distant daughter, Arthur fell into the pit of alcoholism. He used the demands of a busy law practice as an excuse to avoid dealing with relationships. For forty years, Arthur’s whole identity consisted of being a lawyer. He was sure of himself only in showy court performances. In the early years of his career, those court performances were skilful and professional, but toward the end, he showed up in court drunk and boastful. Under the layers of bravado, nothing was going right. By the time the action starts, Arthur is dry and coming to grips with his failed emotional life. He leaves his family and quits his law practice. Arthur moves to a small island off BC’s coast. There, he gradually parts with the hallmarks of his former life – a fancy car, expensive suits, an ample paunch. He meets and comes to respect the island’s eccentric residents. Arthur takes up gardening and returns to his classical roots, reading and reciting poetry and Latin. A down-to-earth widowed neighbour rekindles his romantic feelings. But all does not remain tranquil. A law professor is charged with raping a student and Arthur is coaxed back to Vancouver to defend him. While preparing for and running the trial, Arthur has some weak moments and is in danger of backsliding into his former life. However, his determination to change prevails. This time, Arthur manages to maintain a balance between career and life, and he stops
confusing the two. At the end of the book, Arthur returns to the island to his new love and his new life. In this novel, the law pokes its nose in only occasionally, and not very realistically. The hillbilly courtroom on the island provides some funny scenes. Deverell makes a few interesting comments about the admissibility of evidence during the professor’s trial. The trial has a dramatic but totally non-legal ending when the complainant gives evidence under hypnosis. You’re not going to learn much about the relationship between law and life, or the workings of justice, by reading this book. You will, however, be engaged by the story of one man’s journey from self-deception to self-awareness.
Profile Image for Nanci.
219 reviews2 followers
January 14, 2025
Totally enjoyed this book. Can’t wait to read the other books in the Arthur Beauchamp series. 5 enthusiast stars.
Profile Image for Barth Siemens.
363 reviews12 followers
December 27, 2015
Other reviewers note that this book is difficult to "get into." I found that, too. My disconnect arose from the frequent scene changes in the first half of the book, with which the author introduced the characters and the storyline. I was frustrated when I had to reread the previous page multiple times because: (a) I didn't realize that the scene had changed, (b) I knew that the scene had changed but didn't understand the context, or (c) I believe that the scene had changed to one thing but it turned out to be a completely different scene. Like I said: frustrated. Despite this quirk, I found the author to have an engaging and flowing style - within scenes.

I was very ready for the story at the same time that the author was ready to settle into the same. He delivered in spades! I would call this book a delightful romp. The courtroom climax was the most creative that I recall having read. Simply wonderful.
1,047 reviews8 followers
March 29, 2013
Canadian author - apparently this is the first in a series (of 5 maybe so far?) of semi retired criminal lawyer Arthur Beauchamp series. In this story, he is coaxed out of an idyllic new life on an island off Vancouver to take on the case of a law professor accused of raping a student. Well written!
Profile Image for Sharon.
Author 38 books397 followers
April 6, 2020
I received this book during Left Coast Crime 2019 and, as I work my way through my to-be-read pile, finally got to it.

Arthur Beauchamp has retired from his law practice and is living on a quiet island in British Columbia. He's coming to terms with his shattered marriage, and getting to know his new community. However, one of his former partners begs him to come back and defend a fellow lawyer who's been charged with sexual assault. After a while, Arthur reluctantly agrees.

What follows is part courtroom procedural, part reading of evidentiary transcripts, and part contemporary romance as Arthur, who is no longer a young man, contemplates re-entering the dating scene and all that comes with it.

I found the look into the Canadian court system fascinating to compare and contrast with that in the US (my experience has solely been as a juror). I also enjoyed the insights into the various characters that came from the parts of the book where Arthur is either reading transcripts or listening to evidence tapes. It gave a number of extra clues as to what was happening with both the plaintiff and the defendant in the case. However, the highest marks go for when Arthur is at home on Garibaldi, where we meet his new neighbors. Most of them are most politely described as eccentric, and every one of them is entertaining and believable.

Nicely done.
362 reviews6 followers
May 4, 2018
Former Vancouver lawyer and reformed alcoholic Arthur Beauchamp is happy to leave his turbulent marriage for the bucolic delights of his new farm on Garibaldi Island. But when a popular university writing professor is charged with sexual assault Arthur can't resist the lure of one more trial. The details of the case are disturbing and Arthur isn't sure he's up to the task, especially given his increasingly attraction to his new life among the eccentric citizens of Garibaldi (including the neighbouring widow farmer). Will Arthur prevail? Will he win over the widow Margaret? Will his vegetables place well in the Garibaldi fall fair? Deverell's customary insight to the personalities and protocols of law as well as quirky life on a Gulf Island make this novel a great introduction to his Beauchamp series.
Profile Image for Pam Foster.
417 reviews2 followers
May 21, 2023
Once I connected with the different personalities, it became easier to follow the changing points of view. Then the story really took off for me. Truly enjoyed having a main character that was highly intelligent, compassionate, yet modest and self-deprecating enough to make him very real. Always love a tightly drawn court room drama and this is surely a good one.
96 reviews
July 31, 2020
I enjoyed a lot of this - made me want to sell my house and move to a country setting. I loved way it went from one story to the next. Also loved the characters. Didn't really love the way the trial way brought to a conclusion but was completely engrossed to get there.
53 reviews
October 20, 2024
I really liked this book. I liked how the main character was so real. He has doubts. He has self-esteem issues. But he is also aware of It and willingly the author shares the character’s internal monologue. It is definitely worth a read
Profile Image for Diana Simpson.
153 reviews2 followers
October 29, 2017
Can't believe I did not discover this author before now. Couldn't put it down.
73 reviews
November 18, 2019
It was interesting to me because of the setting as we have lived on Vancouver Island for many years however, the actual trial etc was such a small part of the overall book. Easy read.
Profile Image for Valerie Colquhoun.
1,164 reviews
October 28, 2024
How have I not found this series before?
Very engaging legal issues with a Canadian twist. I wonder how it would be received today in this more “woke” time?
Profile Image for Rosemary.
53 reviews
July 31, 2025
Did not age well in the twenty-eight years since publication. Overwritten.
Profile Image for Madeline.
1,000 reviews215 followers
February 16, 2025
On the one hand, very silly! On the other, it does a great job making you go, "hmmm, well I really think something else is going on here, but how is the book possibly going to pull off that something else." (Hypnotism, is how.)

The background story, about Beauchamp's self-reinvention, is a good read. I am curious about how it continues in future stories and entwines itself with future mysteries.

I also liked that this isn't a murder mystery!
Profile Image for Doreen.
1,250 reviews48 followers
November 5, 2015
This is the first Arthur Beauchamp mystery. It won the Hammett Prize for a work of literary excellence in the crime-writing field in North America and the Arthur Ellis Award for excellence in Canadian crime writing.

Arthur is an ex-alcoholic and a discarded husband. At 63 he retires from a very successful law practice and moves to Garibaldi Island to become a gentleman farmer. He is however reluctantly persuaded to return to Vancouver to defend a professor charged with raping a student.

The trial is the focus of only half the book; the other half is devoted to developing Arthur's character and describing some of his eccentric neighbours.

The book is definitely an enjoyable read. It is intelligent, witty, and literate - as is the protagonist. There is sufficient suspense (how will Arthur get a favourable verdict for his client), but there is humour as well, especially in the portrayals of the islanders. Even romance makes an appearance, albeit rife with worries for Arthur who has been impotent.

Deverell is an author and Beauchamp a character to whom I will return.

Please check out my blog (http://schatjesshelves.blogspot.ca/) and follow me on Twitter (@DCYakabuski).
Profile Image for LJ.
3,159 reviews305 followers
September 10, 2007
Deverell, William – Trail of Passion – Okay
Arthur Beauchamp, a heralded criminal lawyer, has moved to a quiet island off the British Columbia coast. While trying to recover from a marriage gone sour, his retirement is interrupted by his former law partners-they want Arthur to take charge of the defense trial of Jonathan O'Donnell, the acting dean of a law school. O'Donnell has been accused of rape by one of the students, Kimberley Martin, a smart but arrogant woman who is engaged to a rich businessman. After much pleading, Beauchamp agrees to handle the case. He is drawn into complex legal situations dealing with gender and sex, while his personal life takes a provocative turn as well.

Not a murder but a legal “mystery” of a Canadian barrister brought back from recent retirement to defend a university professor against a charge of raping one of his students. Certainly the protagionist was the most interesting part of the story.
Profile Image for Neill Smith.
1,138 reviews39 followers
March 22, 2013
At the end of a very successful law career, Arthur Beauchamp has finally accepted his unsuccessful marriage and has retired to one of the gulf islands in the Georgia Strait, a colony of aging and younger hippies, back-to-the-landers, and a weird mix of local land developers, and mini-politicians. As he learns to garden, approach and avoid his neighbors, and revisit his literary past he is enticed into taking one last case in Vancouver, defending a young acting dean of law who has been accused of raping one of his students. As Arthur, in a somewhat new persona, investigates the case he finds himself discovering a new man in himself and a new life.
Profile Image for Sandi.
1,644 reviews48 followers
March 20, 2016
I really enjoyed this book featuring a newly retired Canadian barrister who is talked into taking on one more trial. The best parts of the book were set on the small island off Vancouver where the lead character has moved to in retirement. The trial portions were also interesting and I definitely will continue on with this series.
Profile Image for Barbi.
320 reviews1 follower
April 5, 2014
This is a good book - I enjoyed the Vancouver and Gulf Island setting. The language was a little too flowery in some parts but the story line was good enough to support it. The mix of characters was fun and I look forward to reading the next in the series.
Profile Image for mary.
898 reviews14 followers
May 10, 2014
Initially the narrator's voice seemed strained and overblown. I'm glad I gave it a chance as I came to appreciate that the character was - strained and overblown.
Arthur Beauchamp grew on me, though, as I came to sympathize with his situation(s).
I may go for another title in the series.
Profile Image for Kristie Saumure.
339 reviews3 followers
June 4, 2015
A wonderful little Canadian courtroom drama emerges from the pages of this book. Set on Canada's West Coast (Vancouver and the Gulf Islands), the lead and supporting characters are delightful. I enjoyed spending a few hours with this charming book.
Profile Image for Harvey.
441 reviews
July 22, 2015
- academic morality play (accusations of rape/forcible confinement by a university student towards the Dean Of The Faculty Of Law)
- good character development
- very slow pace
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews

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