Old Car Detective


Book Description

In this hilarious collection of old car stories, Canada’s very own "Old Car Detective" Bill Sherk presents 80 of his favourite stories from all 10 provinces, spanning the years from 1925 to 1965. In this book you will meet the man in New Brunswick who chopped the top off his 1927 Whippet sedan in honour of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II; the young fellow from Kingston, Ontario, who thought his 1937 Ford coach looked better with all four fenders taken off; the owner of a 1947 Hudson that burned so much oil he had to wear a snorkel mask while driving it; the father who borrowed his son’s hot-rodded ’53 Monarch (built only in Canada!) and got pulled over by the police for street racing; and the grandmother who moved from England to Canada and drove her Morris Minor on the wrong side of the road. Behind every old car there’s a story waiting to be told, all the way from your grandparents’ Model T Ford to the Mustang you drove in high school. All the stories and photographs in this book are in chronological order from 1925 to 1965, giving you a 40-year journey through Canada’s rich automotive heritage and brought to life by the people who owned and drove the cars of yesteryear – and some still do! PART ONE (1925 to 1942) takes you from the middle of the Roaring Twenties to February 1942, when the Second World War brought automobile production to a halt for three long years. PART TWO (1946 to 1965) takes you through the Baby Boom years when cars driven by Canadians went through many exciting changes in styling and engineering. If you have ever owned (or still own) a car that was built between 1925 and 1965, turn to the last page in this book to see how you can send in your story for Bill Sherk’s next book.




Keep Up If You Can


Book Description

A light-hearted and touching memoir of Bill Sherk’s 30-plus-year career as a Toronto high school history teacher with a creative flair and passion for his work. Bill Sherk taught history to Toronto high school students for more than thirty years. With his dynamic, creative, and occasionally unorthodox teaching style, he instilled in his students a passion for history and learning. Sherk was loved by his students and remained in their memories long after graduation. Keep Up If You Can is a light-hearted and touching memoir that will appeal to anyone who’s had a special teacher impact their life. Fun facts: He learned the names of all his students on the first day of school. He assigned ancient names to his ancient history students. They called him Sherkules (SHERK-yoo-leez). After reading Webster’s Dictionary cover to cover, he encouraged his students to coin new words, and many of these were published in his three dictionaries. Firmly believing in physical activity, he would leap atop his desk and lead his students in an aerobic "Sherkout" to a rock-and-roll beat.




The Detective’s Quota


Book Description

For many years, the Chicago south side neighborhood was virtually free of crime. Every once in awhile someone would commit a burglary, or a theft, and the police charged with keeping the neighborhood free of crime almost always captured the offender. However, in the year of 2010, three Bridgeport women were found raped and murdered in an alley adjacent to White Sox Park. As such crimes were rare in the area, the entire police department, fearing for the safety of women, went on a massive manhunt for the killer. That manhunt took a strange unexpected turn, as the evidence the department gathered indicated that one of its own members, namely John McBride, may have murdered the woman. This novels traces the investigation which led to John McBride's arrest and his trial.




Classic in the Barn


Book Description

A ’38 Lagonda is driving someone to murder in “this lively, fast-paced mystery” series debut featuring British classic car expert and detective Jack Colby (Publishers Weekly). When Jack Colby, owner of Frogs Hill Classic Car Restorations, stumbles upon a 1938 coupé Lagonda V12 rusting away in a country barn in Kent, he longs to bring it back to its former glory. Jack also takes a shine to its owner, the fetching widow Polly Davis. Sadly, his romantic pursuits cut short. A few days later Polly is murdered just a few feet from the elegant machine. Now Jack’s curiosity about the car—and the crime—are kicking into high gear. He knows that years ago Polly’s late husband was found dead in the driver’s seat. And it’s clear she had no interest in selling or restoring the Lagonda—just hiding it. But are the rumors about Polly’s dicey past the key to it all, or just a detour? Convinced that the Lagonda is somehow involved, especially when it disappears, Jack is determined to uncover Polly’s secrets and bring her killer to justice, even at the risk of his own life.




The Kidnapping


Book Description

This thrilling, adventurous story takes you all the way from Santa Barbara to Tijuana in search of Sofia, a famous author who vanished without a trace. Aideen, her granddaughter won't give up and hires more than one investigator who failed to locate her fast enough. She had a contact with an Italian crime family who went in search for her. Aideen's life was turned upset down, not knowing where to turn next. A group of six special ops retirees took over and that changed everything.




I'll Never Forget My First Car


Book Description

In this hilarious collection of stories, Old Autos columnist Bill Sherk describes in vivid detail the trials and tribulations of those brave souls who, throwing caution to the wind and money down the drain, made the fateful decision that would forever change the course of their lives. They went out and bought their very first cars. And whether it came from the showroom or the scrapyard, your first car was your ticket of admission into the adult world. Gas, oil, repairs, tow trucks, speeding tickets, insurance, and fender benders would take a vacuum cleaner to your bank account, but you didn’t care. You were behind the wheel and on the road.




Investigation and Prevention of Officer-Involved Deaths


Book Description

Each year, too many law enforcement officers die in the line of duty and too many people are killed by the police. Yet, can any of these deaths be avoided? To answer this we must investigate the nature and causes of these deaths in an unbiased and objective manner to highlight and expose weaknesses in policy that can be amended through more rigorou




Crescendo


Book Description

In the backdrop of glittering diamonds, the story begins in a city famous for its relaxed lifestyle and spicy cuisine, wherein the roots of the protagonist are cut off suddenly in one go, rendering him kinless. A mystery unearths in Sanjay’s life, disproving his relation with his parents. Tangled in the darkness of anonymity, he leaves no stone unturned to discover his exact identity. But the more he searches, the more he sinks. Despite his best efforts, Sanjay is back to square one. Do his parents know about his identity? Or was he exchanged at the time of birth? Meanwhile, in the middle of his quest, he comes across another mind-boggling challenge from a smart diamond thief. Is his sweetheart in cahoots with the plunderer? Will he solve the riddle to find out his real parents? Pull up your socks for a brain-teasing exercise that vacillates between the Diamond City and the Orange City of India. Feel the ear-deafening crescendo of identity crisis. Sometimes, to know the truth of thyself becomes as difficult as getting blood from a stone.




The Female Investigator in Literature, Film, and Popular Culture


Book Description

In this book the author examines how women detectives are portrayed in film, in literature and on TV. Chapters examine the portrayal of female investigators in each of these four genres: the Gothic novel, the lesbian detective novel, television and film.




I'll Never Forget My First Car


Book Description

In this hilarious collection of stories, Old Autos columnist Bill Sherk describes in vivid detail the trials and tribulations of those brave souls who, throwing caution to the wind and money down the drain, made the fateful decision that would forever change the course of their lives. They went out and bought their very first cars. And whether it came from the showroom or the scrapyard, your first car was your ticket of admission into the adult world. Gas, oil, repairs, tow trucks, speeding tickets, insurance, and fender benders would take a vacuum cleaner to your bank account, but you didn’t care. You were behind the wheel and on the road.