Kill All The Lawyers

Arthur P. Besterman, criminal lawyer and reformed alcoholic, was the first to go. Counsel to Vancouver's assorted shifters and grifters, Besterman almost always lost his cases. But a recent victory defending a low-life client might be a clue as to why he was bludgeoned to death with a baseball bat. Then someone takes a pot shot at philandering lawyer Brian Pomeroy after he successfully defends a group of controversial eco-terrorists. All of a sudden lawyers whose clients are less than savoury start second-guessing the ethics of their profession, and going to court becomes possible bloodsport. In a cat-and-mouse game involving the better part of Vancouver's legal community, Pomeroy's firm (the famous Pomeroy, MacArthur, Brovak and Sage from the best-selling Dance of Shiva) pieces together some very disturbing truths about lawyers and the law. As one sleazy lawyer after another disappears, the reader can't help but ponder the wisdom of Shakespeare's famous dictum, "The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers."

-- Praise for Kill All The Lawyers --

"A lawyer is killed shortly after he has astonished everyone by successfully defending an undoubtedly guilty client. A second lawyer who has a similar success is shot at, and the legal community begins to think that someone out there is attempting to correct undesirable verdicts by sentencing lawyers to death … The social comedy is hilarious. This is a brilliantly wrought novel, ingenious, entertaining, and continually surprising. Deverell deserves an award for this one." - Robin Skelton, Books in Canada

"This is a fast, funny novel, West Coast thriller king William Deverell’s response to the blockbuster legal potboilers of such lesser, wealthier writers as John Grisham and Scott Turow." - Quill and Quire

"Deverell's crime fiction has always been exceptional. As always, Deverell offers a cynical insider's view of the legal profession. A smart, witty book with great characters and a clever plot." - Margaret Cannon, Toronto Globe and Mail

"A bitingly funny whodunit." - Maclean’s

"Kill All the Lawyers is clever, amusing, laced with black humour and viciously accurate depictions of lawyers and judges." - Toronto Star

"Terrific." - Toronto Sun

"This is just an all-round great romp of a book, a wonderful and uproarious whodunit with a magnificently convoluted plot and a cast of characters to die for – a bunch of which do – by one of the country’s best (and most irreverently funny) crime and mystery writers." - Ottawa Sun

"As usual, Deverell has whipped up some of the slimiest, scummiest and hilarious characters you’re ever going to find between the covers of a book. It’s a first-rate whodunit, populated by folks you won’t want to forget." - Regina Leader Post

"Kill All the Lawyers is Deverell at his best — tongue-in-cheek, slashing and burning member of his other profession — lawyers. Simply magnificent. - Brantford Expositor

"Smart, contemporary and tart." - Edmonton Journal

"A highly readable tale, a lighthearted novel displaying throughout a deftly light touch." - Winnipeg Free Press

"Sly, wickedly amusing, … irreverent, refreshing." - Vancouver Sun