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Product Description
Review
Winner of the 2006 Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel
“April Fool thrusts itself brashly into the reader’s psyche like a lumber-jacketed logger at a black-tie affair. Ruggedly individualistic, demanding and determined, its characters are shrewdly etched and realistically rendered.”
— Globe and Mail
“Deverell brings back one of his classic characters, wily B.C. Queen’s Counsel Arthur Beauchamp, in this droll, witty novel about crime in the Gulf Islands.”
— Toronto Sun
“The dialogue crackles, the style is sharp and compelling, and it’s a treat to spend another book with Beauchamp.”
— Vancouver Sun
“Deverell burrows into Beauchamp’s soul, and we see almost everything unfold through his addled but fascinating perspective.”
— Vancouver Province
“Deverell writes breathless prose, commas flying here and there with exuberant abandon, as he dissects the nuttiness of his various locations. . . . April Fool spills over with idiosyncratic characters.”
— Edmonton Journal
“Hugely entertaining.”
— Calgary Herald
“Deverell is one of Canada’s best and funniest mystery writers.”
— Ottawa Citizen
“Readers gladly follow all of Deverell’s distinctly drawn characters through tiny outposts on Canada’s West Coast to the courtrooms of Victoria and Vancouver and the fine hotels of Europe. He is a master storyteller with a wonderful sense of humour. The story flows effortlessly, and readers are twigs on the river, along for one hell of a ride.”
— Quill & Quire
“[Deverell] is a hugely amusing and self-assured writer, and when you have his gifts it is hard to go wrong.”
— National Post
From the Hardcover edition.
“April Fool thrusts itself brashly into the reader’s psyche like a lumber-jacketed logger at a black-tie affair. Ruggedly individualistic, demanding and determined, its characters are shrewdly etched and realistically rendered.”
— Globe and Mail
“Deverell brings back one of his classic characters, wily B.C. Queen’s Counsel Arthur Beauchamp, in this droll, witty novel about crime in the Gulf Islands.”
— Toronto Sun
“The dialogue crackles, the style is sharp and compelling, and it’s a treat to spend another book with Beauchamp.”
— Vancouver Sun
“Deverell burrows into Beauchamp’s soul, and we see almost everything unfold through his addled but fascinating perspective.”
— Vancouver Province
“Deverell writes breathless prose, commas flying here and there with exuberant abandon, as he dissects the nuttiness of his various locations. . . . April Fool spills over with idiosyncratic characters.”
— Edmonton Journal
“Hugely entertaining.”
— Calgary Herald
“Deverell is one of Canada’s best and funniest mystery writers.”
— Ottawa Citizen
“Readers gladly follow all of Deverell’s distinctly drawn characters through tiny outposts on Canada’s West Coast to the courtrooms of Victoria and Vancouver and the fine hotels of Europe. He is a master storyteller with a wonderful sense of humour. The story flows effortlessly, and readers are twigs on the river, along for one hell of a ride.”
— Quill & Quire
“[Deverell] is a hugely amusing and self-assured writer, and when you have his gifts it is hard to go wrong.”
— National Post
From the Hardcover edition.
Book Description
An irresistible story of justice heading off the rails.
Arthur Beauchamp, the scholarly, self-doubting legend of the B.C. criminal bar (and one of Deverell’s most amiable — and crafty — protagonists), is enjoying his retirement as a hobbyist farmer on B.C.’s Garibaldi Island when he is dragged back to court to defend an old client. Nick “the Owl” Faloon, once one of the world’s top jewel thieves, has been accused of raping and murdering a psychologist. Beauchamp has scarcely registered how unlikely it is that the diminutive Faloon has hurt anyone when his own personal life takes an abrupt turn. His new wife, Margaret Blake, organic farmer and environmental activist, has taken up residence fifty feet above ground in a tree she is determined to save for the eagles and from the loggers. Beauchamp shuttles between Vancouver and the island, doing what he can to save the tree and get his wife back — and defend Faloon.
Part courtroom thriller, part classic whodunit, April Fool sees Deverell writing at the top of his form as he puts these characters through some entertaining and very surprising twists and turns.
From the Hardcover edition.
Arthur Beauchamp, the scholarly, self-doubting legend of the B.C. criminal bar (and one of Deverell’s most amiable — and crafty — protagonists), is enjoying his retirement as a hobbyist farmer on B.C.’s Garibaldi Island when he is dragged back to court to defend an old client. Nick “the Owl” Faloon, once one of the world’s top jewel thieves, has been accused of raping and murdering a psychologist. Beauchamp has scarcely registered how unlikely it is that the diminutive Faloon has hurt anyone when his own personal life takes an abrupt turn. His new wife, Margaret Blake, organic farmer and environmental activist, has taken up residence fifty feet above ground in a tree she is determined to save for the eagles and from the loggers. Beauchamp shuttles between Vancouver and the island, doing what he can to save the tree and get his wife back — and defend Faloon.
Part courtroom thriller, part classic whodunit, April Fool sees Deverell writing at the top of his form as he puts these characters through some entertaining and very surprising twists and turns.
From the Hardcover edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good Mystery with Quirky Characters,
By
This review is from: April Fool (Mass Market Paperback)
I read this book while sitting on a beach on an island very near to Garibaldi Island, where Arthur Beauchamp, the main character, lives. I love all of the description of island life and the pace of things on the island. There is some great description of the forests and people - Deverell has a great vocabulary and he uses it.April Fool is told in the present tense, something that was a bit hard to get used to. There was often changes in point of view and the characters went back into their thoughts, then I felt jarred as they returned to the present. I imagine this was a way to separate the past and present, but it kept taking me out of the story. The beginning of the book was intreguing and certainly made me want to find out who had committed the crime and how they had done it. Faloon is a thief and he starts off by stealing from guests in a local resort. There is great authentic sounding detail here, as there is with all of the crime description - it would seem that Deverell has done his research. The flip side of this is that he used a lot of criminal slang vocabulary that the reader had to interpret. Again, this was offputting at times as it drew me out of the story if it wasn't immediately obvious what the word meant. This is a book in two parts, the crime and investigation and then the courtroom drama. Both were carried off well and we were carried along with Beauchamp as he not only wanted to defend his client, but be able to solve the crime and point the finger at the real criminal in a dramatic gesture. I enjoyed Arthur Beauchamp, and this is the second book I have read featuring this character. However, I also found him annoying at times. At first his insecurities about his wife were amusing, but after awhile they just got to be annoying. I found it difficult to believe that a man of his age would be so insecure about his wife and I did get tired hearing about it. Again, there was a flip side to this, Deverell was able to use this relationship to compare to others in the book and the dynamics of marriage, for example the womanizing, urban lawyer in marriage councelling, and the Viagra popping lawyer keeping a mistress. In the end, I did enjoy April Fool, but did not love it. There was just too much repitition in the descriptions and the main character stopped being charming. I did enjoy the mystery of who committed the crime and the suspense of Beauchamp's wife trying to save the forest from development. There are definitely some local political issues at work here.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.5 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews) 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A welcome breath of fresh air...,
By Buffalo Barnes - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: April Fool (Mass Market Paperback)
While desperately searching for something to read in the laundry room bookcase, I happened upon this book. What a score! I have seldom laughed out loud while reading a murder mystery but I did with this book. Filled with great characters, one I would swear was patterned after myself, hilarious courtroom scenes AND an engrossing murder mystery to boot. This is the literary equivalent of a Marx Bothers movie. All the plot threads are handled well and none are given short shrift at the expense of another. "Zany" without trying too hard. Pick it up and read it.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Deverell - an amusing and creative author,
By Lani - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: April Fool (Mass Market Paperback)
if you like the law and a mystery this is the book for you. Deverell breaks down the stuffiness of the law courts with an interesting and amusing look at the characters, judges, felons etc. Great read.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very enjoyable crime novel with a unique style and nice sense of place,
By Craig Sisterson - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: April Fool (Mass Market Paperback)
April Fool marks the return of one of Deverell's most beloved characters; Arthur Beauchamp, a Denny Crane-esque legal legend now retired to a hobby farm on one of British Columbia's Gulf Islands. Beauchamp's quiet life is upturned when his environmental activist wife decides to protest logging by living in a tree, at the same time as a roguish ex-client is accused of a heinous rape and murder.The heroically fallible Beauchamp is forced onto an entertaining rollercoaster combining courtroom thriller with mystery whodunit. For readers, Deverell's unique writing style - melding quirky characters, witty dialogue, contemporary themes, and literary touches into a richly authentic Canadian setting, makes the ride all the more worthwhile. Recommended. |
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