About BC Books Online
BC Books Online was created for anyone interested in BC-published books, and with librarians especially in mind. We'd like to make it easy for library staff to learn about books from BC publishers - both new releases and backlist titles - so you can inform your patrons and keep your collections up to date.
Our site features print books and ebooks - both new releases and backlist titles - all of which are available to order through regular trade channels. Browse our subject categories to find books of interest or create and export lists by category to cross-reference with your library's current collection.
A quick tip: When reviewing the "Browse by Category" listings, please note that these are based on standardized BISAC Subject Codes supplied by the books' publishers. You will find additional selections, grouped by theme or region, in our "BC Reading Lists."
Description
Set in Vancouver in 1907, Better the Devil You Know is the outrageous tale of three unique and curious characters: the small-time con man who passes himself off as an evangelical preacher, the scrawny lady of the night whom he reluctantly befriends, and the five-year-old hellion left in his care by a former lady friend. In the course of their adventures, these three misfits become involved with a larcenous lingerie salesman, a Klondike miner bent on recovering his stolen poke, a madam intent on revenge for past wrongs, a pugilistic lady barkeep, two doctors determined to acquire a cadaver of their own, a handful of incompetent and corrupt cops, and a piano teacher with reforming zeal. The pace is riotous, the action continuous, and nobody' good or bad'ever gets a break.
Contributor Notes
Betty Keller was born in Vancouver, BC, and moved to the Sunshine Coast in 1980. She is a teacher, mentor, editor and a writer, and has authored or co-authored seventeen books, including biographies, histories, plays and novels. She is a founder of the Sunshine Coast's Festival of the Written Arts and the Writers-in-Residence Program. Betty has won numerous awards for her literary work. She is an avid potter, gardener and fisherperson.
Editorial Review
"An outrageous romp of a novel set in turn-of-the-century Vancouver when Gastown was still the hub of the fast-evolving city."
—Beth Haysom, Times Colonist
