The High Road: Confessions of a Homicide Cop

Hank Idsinga, whose grandfather was murdered in the Holocaust, became the country’s leading homicide detective; he shares his insights into tracking down murderers and serial killers over his colourful and decorated thirty-year career.

From the age of ten, Hank Idsinga knew he wanted to become a homicide detective, when he learned that his grandfather had been murdered by the Nazis in the Second World War. He prepared to be a police officer his entire youth and soon found himself in ill-fitting suits training for the job. More than competent—smart, incisive, caring, respectful—Idsinga won over his fellow officers and his superiors. He was as capable of tracking down a getaway man as he was informing a mother that her son, lost to crime, would never return home. Idsinga found himself at the center of some of the most notable crimes in recent Toronto history, from the Jane Creba shooting on Boxing Day to shootouts on Yonge Street to helping track down some of the most vicious serial criminals the city has ever seen.

But it was in homicide that Hank Idsinga would prove such a vital asset to the Toronto Police Services. Idsinga teamed up with his partners, including future chief of police Mark Saunders, on many murder calls—some one-offs, others more nefarious—taking in the scene with his excellent recall, finding the motive and the method faster and more insightfully than most. Idsinga and his team of seasoned detectives participated in taking down some of the worst Toronto has to offer, perhaps none more so than serial killer Bruce McArthur, who had terrorized the gay village for years. Idsinga became the public face for that investigation, and despite the criticism of the police force’s handling of the murders, Idsinga always appeared strong and compassionate in front of the media’s camera flashes.

The High Road breathes life into the true detective genre, with raw, accessible and punchy prose, as honest and compelling as the homicide detective himself. His grandfather would have been proud.

About the Author :
Hank Idsinga was a member of the Toronto Police Services for thirty years, leading the country’s top homicide unit for five years. Having served as Detective Sergeant and, later, Inspector in charge of Toronto’s Homicide Squad, he has policed just about every kind of case you can imagine, and has stared down some of the hardest criminals the city has ever seen. Idsinga has received numerous awards from the Ontario Homicide Investigator’s Association, and has twice been recognized by Toronto Life magazine as one of Toronto’s 50 Most Influential People. Additionally, he is a regular presenter at policing conferences, including the FBI National Academy Associates Conference and the Ontario Homicide Investigators Conference, among others. Recently retired and now a crime commentary fixture on the Corus radio network (nationally) and Global Television, as well as American crime series in production, Idsinga speaks widely about policing in the wake of a highly decorated career.

Review :
“Forget your favourite TV detective or Hollywood cop. Hank Idsinga is the real deal—a veteran homicide investigator who has smelled the blood at crime scenes, examined the corpses and hunted down the killers. From gangland slayings to other tragic murders, Idsinga grabs you for a gut-wrenching ride through the mean streets of murder. And he pulls no punches when it comes to exposing major issues with Canada’s largest police force. A scary, searing look behind the badge.”
— JULIAN SHER, co-author of Hitman “Hank Idsinga is a man of imposing dimensions, physically and morally. It took a big man to head up the homicide squad in a city where slain blood flowed. The killings on his watch, overwhelmingly solved, required investigative skill, management adeptness and empathy for victims. This was a police officer who spent a lifetime delving into the darkness of horrific crimes and wretched criminals. In The High Road: Memories of a Homicide Cop, Hank recounts it all with immense humanity.”
— ROSIE DiMANNO, Toronto Star