Erin Clemence's Reviews > The Ghosts That Haunt Me: Memories of a Homicide Detective

Steve Ryan worked for more than thirty years as a police officer (and detective) for the Toronto Police Service (although now he is a crime reporter for a local news outlet). “The Ghosts That Haunt Me” is a real-life tale of six terrifying crimes he investigated while working as a detective for the Homicide division that made him lose sleep at night, and to be honest, these stories will live on in my nightmares as well.

As a Canadian, and a highway’s drive away from Toronto, I recognized the names and cases mentioned in Ryan’s book, which makes it all the more intense and horrible. Young Holly Jones, who had just started walking places on her own, who was abducted and murdered while out on one such walk; Stefanie Rengel, a teenager who was killed by two of her peers during the New Year’s holiday; and, more recently, the domestic murder of Dr. Elana Fric-Shamji, who was killed by her husband; these are all the stories that made headlines in my neck of the woods, and Ryan’s behind-the-scenes look into each of these cases is informative, powerful and disturbing.

Ryan sets the scenes well, describing the idyllic communities that had previously been untouched by violence, and focuses his work primarily on the surviving families, paying them the utmost respect. Although, obviously, Ryan talks about the perpetrators and why they did what they did (as best as anyone can), it is obvious he cares a great deal for the families left behind, and that always earns top respect in my books.

Each case receives its own chapter, and Ryan’s humanity is on full display on every page. He details his struggles with evidence (or lack thereof), witness statements (or lack thereof) and even political red tape (if any), which brings out the realism in each horrible story and connects the reader to Ryan as a human being first, and a cop second.

“The Ghosts That Haunt Me” is a fantastic memoir that struck a John E. Douglas tune with me (that is a huge compliment) and I am going to be quick to recommend this one to any true crimes fans, especially those in my neck of the woods!