Stung

January 25, 2021
Arthur Ellis Award–winner Deverell’s enjoyable eighth Arthur Beauchamp novel (after 2017’s Whipped) finds the aging British Columbia lawyer starting to feel “that he is over the hill and accelerating down it.” However, he agrees “to strap on his guns one last time” and represent a group of environmental warriors who are charged with an assortment of crimes against Chemican International, which is producing a pesticide in Ontario that’s devastating the honeybee population in Brazil. The action shifts between the antics of sexy activist Rivie Levitsky, who sets out to seduce the director of security operations for Chemican’s Canadian division as part of the activists’ sting operation, and occasionally poignant scenes at Arthur’s farm, where he prepares for trial. A third plotline follows the exploits of two Ontario provincial police officers as they track down the environmentalists. Elegant prose and an endearing lead ease the way through the thicket of environmental issues. Fans of character-driven mysteries will be rewarded.