Fatal Cruise — William Deverell

Author William Deverell received an intriguing phone call. Would he be interested, he was asked, in defending a 59-year-old homosexual accused of bludgeoning his employer, a wealthy widow, with a liquor bottle while they were cruising in Canadian waters aboard a luxury liner. Deverell took the case â€" and found himself caught up in a bizarre world of eccentric characters, decadent behaviors, naked greed, and multi-million-dollar wills. To make matters worse, his sweet-tempered client had no memory of committing the murder â€" yet no means of proving he didn't.

With penetrating insight, William Deverell probes the mind of the accused and explores the legal system that tried him. Deverell's superb writing skills combine brilliantly with his insider's knowledge of the courtroom, and the result is a seamlessly constructed, gripping narrative whose suspense never lets up. Fast-paced and gritty, humane and intelligent, Fatal Cruise is crime journalism at its most provocative and rewarding.