The Dance of Shiva [Mass Market Paperback]

William Deverell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1991

Eastern philosophy and legal thinking meet in this mystery novel in which Max Macarthur faces the greatest challenge of his young career when he must serve as defense counsel to cult leader Shiva Ram Acharya. In a grisly echo of Jonestown, 20 members of a cult are found savagely executed in an isolated island on Canada's west coast, and Acharya, who was there, claims to have amnesia when questioned about the events. As Macarthur falls under the sway of the brilliant and enigmatic Acharya, he becomes convinced of the cultist's innocence and embarks on a danger-ridden quest to find the true murderer.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

William Deverell’s first novel, Needles, won the $50,000 Seal Award, and, since then, he has published one work of non-fiction, Fatal Cruise, and ten further novels, including Trial of Passion, winner of the Hammett Prize for literary excellence in crime writing and Canada’s Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Novel. Deverell created the popular CBC Television series Street Legal and recreated its characters in a novel by that title. He is a founding member and past-president of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, a member of PEN Canada, the Screen Writers Guild, and has twice been chair of the Writers’ Union of Canada. He winters in Costa Rica and spends his summers on Pender Island in B.C.


From the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 456 pages
• Publisher: McClelland & Stewart (February 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0771026641
• ISBN-13: 978-0771026645
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,629,889 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars William Deverell's Finest Novel, March 31, 2000

By 

[e-mail] (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dance of Shiva (Mass Market Paperback)

In Dance of Shiva we are introduced to many of the characters that populate Deverell's later novels: Max Macarthur and his law partner's at Pomeroy, Marx, Macarthur, Brovak and Sage; the alcoholic but brilliant lead counsel for the defense, Arthur Beauchamp; crown prosecutor Leroy Lukey, and a host of others. Deverell splendidly captures the feel of Vancouver in the early eighties, and he writes with the knowledge of the Canadian legal system that could only come from the star attorney who long headed the BC Civil Liberties Association.

Shiva is the Rama of a commune who is accused of murdering his 22 followers. Arthur Beauchamp is his defense attorney, and Max Macarthur his able assistant, who soon finds himself enthralled with Shiva's charisma and mystique. As the case unfolds in court, Macarthur finds himself wondering whether he's defending a mad man, or a framed messiah. And just where does the American Heiress who ran off to join the Moonies fit into it all? Funny, poignant, remarkable, the superlatives could go on forever. Simply put: Read it.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Okay murder mystery, May 26, 2006

By 

[e-mail] (NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dance of Shiva (Paperback)

This was my first novel by William Deverell and I decided to read it because it included some eastern philosophy. Unfortuntely, the character of Shiva is mostly hidden in this novel and the focus is on the life of the defense attorney, Max Macarthur. The back of this book states that Max, "..embarks on a journey that threatens to shatter his firm grip on reality" as he falls under the spell of Shiva. None of this was really included in this novel; the book was more mundane and contained the same elements other murder mysteries contain. I expected more of a focus on the character of Shiva and was dissapointed when he was downplayed. Other than that, it was a decent murder mystery that also contained a side plot of Macarthur's dealings with his girlfriend, Ruth. It lacked the excitment of most mystery books and any real surprises.