Staff
For 22 years, forensic scientist and investigator Debra Komar helped solve the mysteries of some of the world’s most horrific genocides, from Darfur to Kosovo.
Now retired, she has turned her attention to historic Canadian crimes—using modern forensic science and in-depth historical investigation—and spun them into true-crime murder mysteries.
Three books into a four book series, she presents compelling reexaminations of some of Canada’s most grizzly crimes where a grave miscarriage of justice has occurred.
At a presentation at Coffin Ridge Winery in Annan, Ontario, on Friday October 30, she will talk about her life as a forensic scientist in the field of contemporary human rights investigation, as well as how this training gave her an interest in examining very old cases in her native Canada.
The first title in the series, The Ballad of Jacob Peck, was the 2013 Globe & Mail number one non-fiction pick and in 2014 Dr Komar’s body of work to date won her the Wallace Stegner Prize for the Arts.
Her latest book, The Bastard of Fort Stikine (pronounced: sty-keen), is a story of murder and mayhem on Canada’s west coast in the heyday of the fur trade.
Dr. Komar is the second author featured in the newly established Coffin Ridge Book Club, which will continue into the 2016 season. Coffin Ridge has been pairing fine wine with fine food since its founding in 2006 and now, in the words of writer-researcher and co-owner, Gwen Lamont, “our aim is to pair fine wines with fine minds.”
This is a ticketed event and tickets can be purchased at the Coffin Ridge Boutique Winery tasting bar in Annan or by calling Coffin Ridge between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily.
