William Deverell

Who is William Deverell?

William Herbert Deverell is a Canadian novelist, activist, and criminal lawyer. He is one of Canada’s best-known novelists, whose first book, Needles, which drew on his experiences as a criminal lawyer, won the McClelland & Stewart $50,000 Seal Award. In 1997 he won the Dashiell Hammett Prize for literary excellence in crime writing in North America for Trail of Passion. That book also won the 1998 Arthur Ellis Award for best Canadian crime novel, as did April Fool in 2003. Trial of Passion launched his first crime series, featuring the classically trained, self-doubting Arthur Beauchamp, QC, a series that continued with April Fool, Kill All the Judges, Snow Job, and I'll See You in My Dreams.

William Deverell’s sixteen published novels also include High Crimes, Mecca, The Dance of Shiva, Platinum Blue, Mindfield, Kill All the Lawyers, Street Legal, Slander, The Laughing Falcon, and Mind Games. He is the author of the true crime book A Life on Trial – the Case of Robert Frisbee, based on a notorious murder trial which he defended.

He has achieved recognition for suffusing his novels with satire.