Crime may not pay—but it makes for a compelling conversation. Join Hank Idsinga and Lorna Poplak for a riveting event exploring crime from both sides of the bars. Drawing from their books The High Road: Confessions of a Homicide Cop and On the Lam: Great (and Not So Great) Escapes from Prison, they share gripping […]
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Toronto was once a rough and rowdy place, a muddy town notorious for hard drinking, gambling and violence. That shady reputation extended to its police force and to the man who ran it. Join Adam Bunch, author of The Toronto Book of the Dead and The Toronto Book of Love for a talk about the […]
Join us for a compelling conversation on crime non-fiction, with Leslie Bradford-Scott and Edward Chisholm. In The Liar’s Playbook, Bradford-Scott unfolds the story of a childhood shaped by deception, recounting what it was like to uncover her father’s secret involvement in espionage, organized crime, and explosive family secrets. Chisholm’s Murder in Paris ’68 is a […]
Join Phil Hibbeln and Robert Monaghan, retired Toronto detectives, for a wild ride through the city’s crime history! With 30+ years of police experience, they’ll dish out jaw-dropping tales from Toronto’s underbelly. From shocking scandals to downright bizarre incidents, discover how crime shaped the city over 300 years. This event showcases stories handpicked from their […]
Toronto’s dead haven’t always been able to rest in peace. There was a time when our city was plagued by graverobbers. As local medical schools developed a ravenous appetite for fresh bodies, grisly scenes played out under the cover of darkness. Victorian Torontonians were left horrified by reports of empty coffins and missing corpses. Join […]
What does it take to escape a life of crime?
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 […]
Cold-blooded. Untouchable. Unravelled. Yves “Apache” Trudeau was a legend among killers – an assassin for the Hells Angels whose brutal efficiency made him a weapon for hire across Montreal’s warring underworlds. But when a failed hit sent him into rehab, Trudeau shocked the country by turning informant, only to bring chaos to the courts with […]
Join Bob and Phil, retired Toronto detectives, for a wild ride through the city’s crime history! With 30+ years of police experience, they’ll dish out jaw-dropping tales from Toronto’s underbelly. From shocking scandals to downright bizarre incidents, discover how crime shaped the city over 300 years. This event showcases stories handpicked from their walking tours, […]
Why do we have fingerprints? Where do they go once collected? Do I have the same prints as my twin? Join Murray Clayton, the Forensic Science Program Officer from the University of Toronto, for an exploration of fingerprint identification, and discover some of the different techniques investigators use not only to reveal hidden prints, but […]
Join case-active forensic anthropologist Gregory Grace-Alcock, as she details the day-to-day tasks of missing person searches and recovery, as well as the complications or considerations that are a part of human remain recovery. From trauma to taphonomy, participants will be able to engage with, and better understand how professionals ensure the ethical recovery and treatment […]
Join case-active forensic anthropologist Gregory Grace-Alcock, as she details the day-to-day tasks of missing person searches and recovery, as well as the methods and techniques used to give an individual their identity back after death. From trauma to taphonomy, participants will be able to engage with the professionals who ensure professional recovery and ethical treatment […]
True crime has long fascinated readers and audiences—not just for the who and the how, but for what these stories reveal about power, prejudice, and the societies that produce them. In this gripping opening night event, three remarkable storytellers dissect the scandals, injustices, and dark psychology at the heart of their work, and explore why […]
Two compelling narratives, one fact, one fiction, explore deception, ambition, and the fragile boundaries between authenticity and illusion in the rarefied worlds of art and fashion. In The Devil Wears Rothko, acclaimed filmmaker and author Barry Avrich tells the true story of the stunning $80 million forgery scandal that brought down one of New York’s […]
