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Book Launch: Four Bullets, Four Witnesses, Four Liars by Brian Barrie
September 7 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Join us in the beautiful setting of the Royal Military College (RMC), for a captivating evening with author, RMC and Queen’s University Law graduate, Brian Barrie. Barrie’s 4 Bullets, 4 Witnesses, 4 Liars chronicles the fascinating true events surrounding a murder, its witnesses, and the trial that cast harsh light on the Canadian justice system.
Antonia Pop, VP of Publishing, University of Toronto Press will also be joining the conversation with perspectives on the state of Canadian publishing.
Enjoy intriguing discussions and the inspiring views of Kingston’s King’s Bay, Fort Henry, and Wolfe Island from RMC’s Senior Staff Mess.
Admission is FREE. Copies of 4 Bullets, 4 Witnesses, 4 Liars will be available for sale and signing at the event.
About the Speakers
Antonia Pop is Vice President of Publishing at University of Toronto Press (UTP). Antonia has been working in scholarly publishing for more than a decade. In her role at UTP, Antonia works closely with a team of talented publishing professionals to develop and implement business strategies aimed to support the Press’s mission of connecting ideas for a better world. Each year UTP releases 60 journals and over 200 new scholarly, course, and general interest books in print, e-book, and audio format.
Brian Barrie established a trial practice in Owen Sound, Ontario after obtaining a law degree at Queen’s University, where for forty years he was privileged to be accepted into a world of wonder and crisis, where strangers entrusted him with their causes, their fights for freedom, and their financial survival. But even while practicing law, Barrie could not quell his passion for writing. He published four books for children or youth between 2007 and 2019, which have been cherished by local Owen Sound readers. Four Bullets, Four Witnesses, Four Liars is his first adult novel. He currently lives on Lake Huron, his horizon encircled by fishing islands until backlit by the Red Bay sunsets.
About Four Bullets, Four Witnesses, Four Liars: The True Story of a Murder and the Trial That Followed
On April 26th, 1988, a man was shot and killed in a remote cabin in rural Ontario.
Four witnesses were questioned by the police. Each one told a different story. Worse, they continued to change their stories, repeatedly contradicting not only each other, but also themselves. Ultimately, a woman named Mae McEachern was charged with murder. But what really happened that night?
Author Brian Barrie acted as Mae’s defense lawyer at her murder trial. In this scintillating true crime novel, Barrie uses the trial transcripts, newspaper articles, and his own memories to piece together the story of who the victim was, who the witnesses were, and how the murder came to pass. He goes on to detail the gripping courtroom drama of the murder trial, where Mae’s innocence was judged by a jury of her peers.
Grappling with themes of mental illness, domestic violence, misogyny, and disability, this astonishing exposé casts a light on how the Canadian justice system can further victimize those who are already vulnerable, while also laying bare the simple kindness and love that can exist between people, even in the harshest of circumstances.