Peter Edwards is the organized-crime beat reporter for the Toronto Star and the bestselling author of seventeen non-fiction books and one young adult novel. His works have been published in four languages. Edwards is a member of Top Left Entertainment, a production development company, and an executive producer for the Citytv series Bad Blood, created […]
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Joined by award-winning Mexican journalist Luis Nájera, leading organized-crime author Peter Edwards introduces a motley assortment of millennial bikers, gangsters and Mafia whose bloody trail of murders and schemes gone wrong led to the arrival in Canada of the world’s most dangerous criminal organizations: the drug cartels of Mexico. A man watching the Euro Cup […]
A true crime podcast sets a trophy wife’s present life on a collision course with her secret past in this “blazingly intense” Reese Witherspoon book club pick and New York Times Best Crime Novel of the Year (A. J. Finn). The day Anna McDonald’s quiet, respectable life exploded started off like all the days before: Packing up […]
What does it take to escape a life of crime? Two journalists dive deep into the worlds of gang violence and the courtroom of public opinion, revealing unsettling truths about justice, identity and redemption. Anaïs Renevier‘s The Alice Crimmins Case, explores a case that still haunts American justice, the disappearance in 1965 Queens of two children […]
Join Ramona Emerson and Órjan Karlsson for a chilling conversation about what happens when the missing refuse to stay silent. In Emerson’s Exposure, the follow-up to the National Book Award-longlisted Shutter, Navajo forensic photographer Rita Todacheene grapples with a fanatical serial killer—and the ghosts he leaves behind. Karlsson’s Into Thin Air, the first in a […]
Loyalty shatters. Codes break. And deadly skills turn against those once trusted. New York Times bestselling author Gregg Hurwitz brings you the explosive latest installment in his acclaimed Orphan X series. Join us as Hurwitz reveals how he turned his own series on its head by forcing deadly assassin Evan Smoak into unimaginable territory: hunting […]
Ramona Emerson’s crime series with forensic photographer Rita Todacheene has captured the hearts and imaginations of readers. In this masterclass, Ramona will outline the keys to her success from finding the hook for her hero, blending genres of crime and the supernatural, and how her background in media arts brought a unique imagery to her […]
Two gripping literary thrillers where memory deceives, truth hides in plain sight and justice is dangerously subjective. In Sweet Fury, Sash Bischoff spins a razor-sharp psychological thriller set against the glamorous, cutthroat world of Hollywood. As beloved actress Lila Crayne prepares for a role in a feminist adaptation of Tender Is the Night, therapy sessions […]
This masterclass will explore how to research and investigate a true crime story. France’s leading true crime journalist and authors of The Alice Crimmins Case, Anaïs Renevier, will share her approaches on investigating true crime, from cold cases to recent crimes, drawing on the case studies featured in her books. She will cover a range […]
From an exclusive island retreat to a high-stakes destination wedding, location can be more than a backdrop – it can be the engine of suspense, the pressure cooker for characters, and the perfect stage for surprise twists. Eliza Reid and Catherine Mack in their latest novels use isolated or insular settings – whether physical, emotional, […]
Yevgeni Vladimirovich Brik and James Douglas Finley Morrison were central figures in what was considered one of the most important Cold War operations in the West at the time. Their story, which involves espionage, intelligence tradecraft, intelligence service penetrations, double agent scenarios, and betrayal, is a piece of Cold War intelligence history that has never […]
Canada has long been a quiet front in the global theatre of espionage, first in the shadows of the Cold War, and now in the ever-expanding battleground of digital surveillance. This conversation examines what’s changed and what hasn’t in the murky world of surveillance, state power, and civil liberties, bringing together two insiders who have […]
Are you the kind of reader who can’t resist solving the mystery before the final page? Then this is the event for you. From cryptic riddles to choose-your-own-adventure clues, Max Nightingale (a.k.a Jonathan Whitelaw) and Bianca Marais reinvent the crime novel by handing the magnifying glass to the reader. In Murder in Tinseltown, Nightingale invites […]
Venture into deceptively quiet communities where nothing – and no one – is quite what they seem with these masterful literary mysteries. Booker-nominated Graeme Macrae Burnet’s A Case of Matricide is the final instalment of his trilogy, featuring Chief Inspector Gorski. As Gorski investigates an elderly woman’s fears that her son plans to kill her, […]
Step behind the filters and façades of online celebrity with two electrifying thrillers that expose the lethal consequences of living someone else’s life. Award-winning Scottish writer, Denise Mina’s Conviction, sees Anna recovering from a devastating breakup and immersing herself in the world of a true crime podcast, only to discover she knows one of the […]
Scott Payne risked everything to take down America’s most dangerous white supremacist groups, living undercover as “Pale Horse” inside The Base—a violent neo-Nazi network. A decorated agent dubbed the “Hillbilly Donnie Brasco,” Payne takes readers along with him on some of the most terrifying and riskiest assignments in FBI history. He went deep undercover with […]
Two authors, two continents, and one unflinching look at how crime reshapes lives – and stories. Argentinian forensic expert and crime novelist Gastón Intelisano brings his real-world experience in autopsy rooms and criminal investigations to the page in the Santiago Soler detective series. Canadian writer and academic Ji Hong Sayo, in his haunting debut Angelhunting, […]
Could your neighbour be a killer? Bestselling Canadian author Shari Lapena invites you to play detective as she dissects her latest psychological stunner, What Have You Done? When Diana Brewer’s body is discovered in a Vermont hayfield, no one in Fairhill is above suspicion – and everyone has secrets. In this gripping tale of small-town […]
Plot twists are some of the most exciting moments in storytelling, but pulling them off successfully takes careful planning and strategy. Over the years, bestselling British crime writer, Jane Corry, has honed the art of crafting twists that leave readers gasping and eagerly turning pages. In this class, Corry will guide you through the process […]
From luxury liners to Toronto’s underbelly, two of Canada’s finest mystery authors return to the MOTIVE stage to take us on journeys back into the past. With The Silent Film Star Murders, Melodie Campbell’s glamorous and gleeful high-seas mystery, theatrical rivalries, silver screen scandals and one extremely suspicious snake set the stage for murder. Lady […]
Behind every great detective story is a world of detail—procedures followed, mistakes made, truths uncovered. In this panel, three insiders explore how real-life law enforcement experience shapes the crime fiction we read. Argentinian forensic scientist and novelist Gastón Intelisano brings the lab to the page in his Santiago Soler mysteries. Des Ryan, a retired Toronto […]
Detective Ed Adach has been with the Toronto Police Service for 43 years. 10 years as a downtown street copper, and the last 33 years as a forensic detective. He has investigated hundreds of homicides. Det. Adach is expert in fingerprint identification and footwear impression comparison. In 1999, Det. Adach Investigated War Crimes in Kosovo […]
Ready or not, here she comes! New York Times bestselling author Lisa Unger, crowned the “queen of thrillers” makes her MOTIVE debut and invites you into the terrifying world of Close Your Eyes and Count to Ten. Step into Adele’s shoes as she fights to outsmart both human competitors and nature’s fury to make it […]
The chilling world of Nordic Noir has captivated readers and audiences in recent years with stark, atmospheric landscapes and deeply complex characters that define the genre. The novels of acclaimed Norwegian authors, Thomas Enger and Órjan Karlsson, are excellent examples: flawed investigators, chilling protagonists, haunting disappearances and unsettling secrets which leave the reader questioning the […]
