Whipped

Deverell’s absorbing seventh Arthur Beauchamp novel (after 2015’s Sing a Worried Song) finds the QC valiantly trying to enjoy retirement on Garibaldi Island off Canada’s west coast. Back in Ottawa, Arthur’s unfaithful wife, MP Margaret Blake, struggles to keep her tiny Green Party off life support. When former star political reporter Lou Sabatino breaks a story on mafia dealings at Montreal’s port, he loses his job, his family, and his identity under witness protection, but, via the Russian dominatrix in his building, Lou finds a video of Margaret’s political nemesis, environmental minister Emil Farquist, in a compromising situation—and lets her know. When a hot mike accidently catches Margaret boasting of the video’s existence, she becomes the target of a multimillion-dollar lawsuit, and her husband must reluctantly return to his profession to defend her. Only those readers with some knowledge of recent Canadian politics will fully appreciate the author’s nuanced view of the goings-on in Ottawa, but all will admire the way Deverall makes even minor characters complex and engaging. (Sept.)