Daring, Devious and Deadly: True Tales of Crime and Justice from Nova Scotia's Past

Welcome to a rogues' gallery of murderers and pirates, brazen bank robbers, and a fraud artist who fooled Halifax's elite. A supporting cast includes a wise-cracking Cape Breton judge, legendary journalist-turned-politician Joseph Howe, circus showman P.T. Barnum, and future prime minister John Thompson. This collection of fifteen true tales of crime and justice drawn from across the province spans more than 150 years of Nova Scotia's history, from a triple murder in 1791 at a farm near Lunenburg to 1947, when Angus Walters, skipper of the racing schooner Bluenose, was attacked in the pages of an American magazine. Filled with surprising twists and courtroom drama, these stories of greed, murder, and vengeance offer a window on the past. But justice can be far from blind. Religious hatred, partisan rivalry, social status, ethnicity, or political corruption sometimes invaded the courtroom, threatening to upset the delicate balance between guilt and innocence. Was justice done in each of these cases? You be the judge.