No matter where the atrocities were committed and no matter what the circumstances, criminal gangs such as the Hyslop, the Polka Dot, and the Newton Brothers outfits all had one thing in common: they lived on the wrong side of the law. From across Canada, Edward Butts presents an all-new selection of desperadoes.

This book, the first of a two volume study, provides an historical account of complaints against Metropolitan police officers between formation of the force in 1829 and codification of remedies for misconduct under the Police Act 1964. A complainant centred standpoint is developed to counteract the marginalization of the interests of victims, which is held to demonstrate that the drive for effective and efficient law enforcement has overshadowed the public interest in holding officers to account for misconduct. After officer accountability before the criminal courts diminished in the nineteenth century, missed opportunities to reform complaints procedures following commissions of inquiry in 1906-08, 1928 and 1960-62 are discussed. The second volume of the study, Combating Impunity: Complaints Against Metropolitan Police, 1964-2021, will examine the part played by complainants and civil society organisations in combating police impunity in the citizen oversight era.

Bestselling true crime author Edward Butts presents a rogues’ gallery of desperadoes whose crimes range from robbery to murder. English bank robbers on the run turn up in Newfoundland. A legendary Nova Scotia detective matches wits with smugglers. In the West the Mounties track down bandits and rustlers. Vancouver police officers hunt down the bank-robbing Hyslop Gang in the 1930s. A decade later the Polka Dot Gang rampages across Southern Ontario. The Newton Brothers’ Gang, outlaws from Texas, engage in a gunfight with bank guards on the streets of Toronto, and a former Canadian Pacific Railway engineer masterminds a sensational kidnapping in Colorado. No matter where the atrocities were committed and no matter what the circumstances, these individuals all had one thing in common: they lived on the wrong side of the law.

Fifteen-year-old Fawad has big dreams about being the world's first Pakistani to be drafted into the NBA. A first-generation Pakistani coming-of-age story for fans of David Yoon and Ben Philippe. Fifteen-year-old Fawad Chaudhry loves two things: basketball and his mother's potato and ground beef stuffed parathas. Both are round and both help him forget about things like his father, who died two years ago, his mother’s desire to arrange a marriage to his first cousin, Nusrat, back home in Pakistan, and the tiny apartment in Regent Park he shares with his mom and sister. Not to mention his estranged best friend Yousuf, who's coping with the shooting death of his older brother. But Fawad has plans: like, asking out Ashley, even though she lives on the other, wealthier side of the tracks, and saving his friend Arif from being beaten into a pulp for being the school flirt, and making the school basketball team and dreaming of being the world’s first Pakistani to be drafted into the NBA. All he has to do now is convince his mother to let him try out for the basketball team. And let him date girls from his school. Not to mention somehow get Omar, the neighborhood bully, to leave him alone . . .

A battle-worn lawyer fights for a young man's life in this criminally enthralling legal thriller. Teen pop star Brittany Crutcher is found dead in small-town Tennessee. For attorney Bocephus Haynes, it's just another night in Pulaski. Bo swore off criminal work after his last case, but the beloved singer's murder demands answers. The prime suspect is local high school football hero and the victim's boyfriend, Odell Champagne. However, this fallen athlete is one of Bo's son's best friends. Bo knows this young man and does not believe him capable of the crime. When Odell is charged with murder, Bo reluctantly takes the case, sparking outrage throughout the town. But as Bo follows the evidence, he learns that the victim made decisions in her last hours that would give powerful forces motive to harm her. Feeling mounting pressure from the community and the DA, Bo forges ahead. But as the seconds count down, he wonders whether justice is even possible.

Betrayed by the one person in her life who should have given her love and protection, Mikayla Cooper flees for her life. Hot on her heels is a malicious criminal and his ruthless gang. For reasons she cannot fathom, she is suddenly on the wrong side of the law and fighting for survival. Just when everything looks hopeless, Mikayla encounters an extraordinary family. Jesse Tuck reaches out to her with friendship. However, he could not have foreseen the danger and intrigue that would turn his life upside-down. The two find themselves in perilous circumstances as the truth starts to unfold.