@ William Deverell.com
Winner of the Dashiell Hammett Award for Literary Excellence in North American Crime Writing
William Deverell on Pender Island
by Judith Isabella, Victoria Times-Colonist, 1997
The secret is out. Although in reality the secret was out at least 10 years ago. When writer William Deverell, creator of television’s popular show Street Legal, first arrived on Pender Island, the population was a few hundred smaller than today. With about 1,000 permanent residents the island has lost its hippie flavor and is more a retirement village with a frequent ferry service which neighboring islands see as catering to the infiltrating urban elements.
But the island where Deverell and his wife Tekla built their "weekend cottage" about 20 years ago has a fictionalized starring role in his ninth novel, Trial of Passion.
"It’s the first time I’ve written a book which uses the Gulf Islands as a locale; I’ve tried to keep them a secret," says Deverell, comfortably seated behind a cedar desk inlaid with blond wood. Aside from the updated computer gear and bulging cardboard boxes in the loft (a testament to research) Deverell’s studio illustrates the appealing rustic architecture of a time when the building inspector only occasionally landed on Deverell’s shores.
A black and white photograph of his daughter Tamara is on the shelf in his studio. Another black and white of his son Daniel, taken by Tamara, is on the other end. He talks of his son, a graphic artist and university lecturer in New York City, and daughter, an art director living in Toronto. David Cronenberg’s controversial Crash is one of her latest movies.
Rope surrounds the windows, keeping a draft at bay. Deverell makes a joke about bondage. It’s an allusion to Trial of Passion. In Vancouver, "many, many years ago," Deverell was the trial lawyer for a rape case involving a wealthy developer and a real estate agent. An episode of bondage was involved.
"That was the germ of the idea," he says. "I still have lots of plots that come from cases I’ve done – not that I follow them slavishly. I let them grow."
Deverell is also letting them grow in a different direction. Trial of Passion is his only book without a dead body as a character and it marks the beginning of his desire to move away from strict adherence to a crime/mystery formula.
"I felt freer," he says of writing Trial of Passion."I didn’t feel so handcuffed by formula. It was my effort to write in a more literary fashioned and I’m continuing that for my new book."
As if on cue, sunlight pours through the windows behind Deverell’s desk, illuminating the author. Fir trees surround the cabin, a dire crackles in the old wood stove and his daughter’s and granddaughter’s art decorates the cabin.
The scene is … well, sweet. To think, the murder and violence in The Dance of Shiva, Platinum Blues and his first book, Needles, were woven here. The violence in Trial of Passion is ambiguous – Deverell has entered that gray zone between absolute right and wrong which good writers like to leap. "Bloodless fiction" it is, with heavy emphasis on the characters and less on the crime.
A walk up the long dirt driveway past the Deverell’s home, past Tekla’s huge garden, reveals a small cottage built expressly for writers. For an incredibly modest sum, Tekla and William offer the cabin to writers needing a getaway. A small pond is a few strides away, where a contemplation ball sparkles in the sun. Prairies-born Deverell is pure West Coast.
Biography
William Deverell was a journalist for seven years with the Canadian Press in Montreal and the Vancouver Sun, and while working his way through law school as night editor of the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix,. As a lawyer, he was counsel in more than a thousand criminal cases, including thirty murder trials, either as defender or prosecutor.
His first novel, Needles, won the $50,000 Seal Prize in l979 and the Book of the Year Award in l981. His subsequent novels include High Crimes, Mecca, The Dance of Shiva, Platinum Blues, Mindfield, Kill All the Lawyers, Street Legal, Trial of Passion, Slander, The Laughing Falcon, Mind Games, April Fool, Kill All the Judges and Snow Job, and he is 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 also published numerous magazine articles and short stories. A feature film of Mindfield, for which he wrote the screenplay, was released in l990. His novels have been translated into fourteen languages and sold worldwide.
Trial of Passion launched his first crime series, featuring the classically trained, self-doubting Arthur Beauchamp, a legend of the criminal bar. The book won the 1997 Arthur Ellis prize for best Canadian crime novel, and the Dashiell Hammett award for literary excellence in crime writing in North America. The Arthur Beauchamp series continued with April Fool, also an Ellis winner, Kill All the Judges, and Snow Job. Each of his other works have been shortlisted for the Ellis award since its inception. Kill All the Judges also was a finalist for the Stephen Leacock Humour Medal.
He wrote the screenplay Shellgame for CBC-TV drama, which served as the pilot for CBC's long-running series Street Legal, and he is the creator of that series, which has run internationally in more than 80 countries. He also authored several one-hour radio plays performed by the CBC in the Scales of Justice series and numerous film or TV scripts.
He is a founder and now honourary director of the B. C. Civil Liberties Association. In 1991-92, he served as Visiting Professor in the Creative Writing Department, University of Victoria. In 1994 he served as Chair of the Writers' Union of Canada, and again in 1999, and he is a member of the Canadian Writers Guild, PEN International, Canadian Mystery Writers.
He has been guest of honour at Canada's main crime venue, Bloody Words, and received the Best Canadian Crime Writer award at the Scene of the Crime Festival in Ontario. He lives on Pender Island, British Columbia, and in Costa Rica
The Hammett
Boucheron 1998 Philadelphia
Named in honor of Dashiell Hammett, this award is given annually by the North American branch of the International Association of Crime Writers to reward excellence in the genre of crime literature.
This year a distinguished jury chose Trial of Passion as the novel of choice for this prestigous award.
