MOTIVE Crime & Mystery Festival Presented by TIFA
Jun 27, 2025
1:30p.m.
-
Jun 29, 2025
4:30p.m.
The MOTIVE Crime & Mystery Festival is coming to Victoria University campus!
Presented by the Toronto International Festival of Authors (TIFA), the festival will bring the world of police procedurals, psychological thrillers and true crime to life in the historic halls of Vic. Don't miss a weekend of suspenseful storytelling, unexpected twist, and unforgettable conversations with some of the genre’s most celebrated authors and creators.
From panel discussions and readings to book signings and workshops, it’s sure to be a criminally good time. Learn more about the festival below and take a peek at the schedule of events happening throughout the weekend.
Schedule
| Date | Time | Title | Speakers | Description | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 27, 2025 | 1:30 p.m. | Finding Your Writing Voice with Maureen Jennings | Maureen Jennings | Learn from the best in a Creative Writing Masterclass | Masterclass – Writer's Craft |
| June 27, 2025 | 4 p.m. | The Success of a Story: Finding Character, Setting and the Narrative Hook | Ramona Emerson | Learn from the best in a Creative Writing Masterclass | Masterclass – Writer's Craft |
| June 27, 2025 | 5:30 p.m. | Location, Location: Eliza Reid & Catherine Mack | Catherine Mack and Eliza Reid | Sometimes a vacation is more than just a backdrop for a book... | Conversation – Fiction |
| June 27, 2025 | 6:30 p.m. | True Crime’s Influence: Inside the Stories That Obsessed Us | Barry Avrich, Anaïs Renevier, and Michelle Shephard | Learn the stories behind the headlines and why we’re so compelled to look | Conversation – True Crime |
| June 27, 2025 | 7:30 p.m. | Friend Turned Nemesis: Gregg Hurwitz | Gregg Hurwitz | Frenemies Forever | Conversation – Fiction |
| June 28, 2025 | 11 a.m. | Tea, Cake & Murder: Fatal Friendships, Deadly Acts | Hannah Mary McKinnon and Eliza Reid | Start your day with tea, cake... and murder! | Conversation – Fiction |
| June 28, 2025 | 11 a.m. | The Answer at your Fingertips: Ridge Patterns in Criminal Investigation | Murray Clayton | Forensic science workshop | Workshop – True Crime |
| June 28, 2025 | 11 a.m. | Exploring Toronto’s Victorian Underworld | Adam Bunch | Join Adam Bunch for an outdoor story time | Presentation – True Crime |
| June 28, 2025 | 11:30 a.m. | Voices of the Vanished | Ramona Emerson and Ørjan Karlsson | Two master storytellers dig deep into the darkness | Conversation – Fiction |
| June 28, 2025 | 12 p.m. | Pitch Perfect! | Various | Learn from the pros about how to get published | Panel Discussion – Writer's Craft |
| June 28, 2025 | 12:15 p.m. | Unreliable Narrators, Unforgettable Crimes | Sash Bischoff and You-Jeong Jeong | Memory deceives, truth hides in plain sight | Conversation – Fiction |
| June 28, 2025 | 12:30 p.m. | Shaping Your Investigation into a Narrative | Anaïs Renevier | Learn from the best in a Creative Writing Masterclass | Masterclass – Writer's Craft |
| June 28, 2025 | 1 p.m. | Puzzle Me This | Bianca Marais and Jonathan Whitelaw | Discuss puzzle-making, plot twists, and whodunits | Conversation – Fiction |
| June 28, 2025 | 1:30 p.m. | Canada’s Secret Wars: Cold War Spies to Digital Surveillance | Ronald Deibert and Donald G. Mahar | Cold War and digital surveillance | Conversation – Critical Conversations |
| June 28, 2025 | 1:30 p.m. | From Killers to Kissers: Writing Crime and Romance | Uzma Jalaluddin and Hannah Mary McKinnon | When a crime writer turns to love—and vice versa | Panel Discussion – Writer's Craft |
| June 28, 2025 | 2:15 p.m. | Small Towns, Big Secrets | Graeme Macrae Burnet, Kate Hilton, and Elizabeth Renzetti | Things aren't always what they seem... | Conversation – Fiction |
| June 28, 2025 | 2:30 p.m. | The Answer at your Fingertips: Ridge Patterns in Criminal Investigation | University of Toronto Mississauga | Forensic science workshop | Workshop – True Crime |
| June 28, 2025 | 3 p.m. | Discovering Korean Crime Fiction Today | Mi-ae Seo and You-Jeong Jeong | How Korean perspectives shape crime fiction | Conversation – Fiction |
| June 28, 2025 | 3 p.m. | Double Lives & Digital Lies | Denise Mina and Liann Zhang | Behind the filters and façades | Conversation – Fiction |
| June 28, 2025 | 3:30 p.m. | Code Name: Pale Horse | Scott Payne and Michelle Shephard | Investigating America’s most dangerous hate groups | Conversation – True Crime |
| June 28, 2025 | 4 p.m. | Small-Town Secrets, Big-Time Consequences | Shari Lapena | Could your neighbour be a killer? | Conversation – Fiction |
| June 28, 2025 | 4:15 p.m. | Memory and Method | Gastón Intelisano and Ji Hong Sayo | How crime reshapes lives – and stories | Conversation – Fiction |
| June 28, 2025 | 4:30 p.m. | How to Craft the Perfect Plot Twist | Jane Corry | Learn from the best in a Creative Writing Masterclass | Masterclass – Writer's Craft |
| June 28, 2025 | 4:30 p.m. | Toronto Crime Tours | — | Learn about the dark history of Toronto | Free – True Crime |
| June 28, 2025 | 5 p.m. | Murder, Mystery & Mistaken Identities | Melodie Campbell and Maureen Jennings | A historical conversation | Conversation – Fiction |
| June 28, 2025 | 5:30 p.m. | Dangerous Influences | Adnan Khan and Mi-ae Seo | Performance, identity, and haunting thrillers | Conversation – Fiction |
| June 28, 2025 | 5:30 p.m. | One Year Later: The Journey from Manuscript to Published Book | Crime Writers of Canada | Panel with CWC members | Panel Discussion – Writer's Craft |
| June 28, 2025 | 6 p.m. | Policing Fact and Fiction | Ed Adach, Gastón Intelisano, and Desmond P. Ryan | Real law enforcement shaping fiction | Conversation – Fiction |
| June 28, 2025 | 6:30 p.m. | Game Over? | Lisa Unger | Ready or not, here she comes! | Conversation – Fiction |
| June 28, 2025 | 7:30 p.m. | You Like It Darker: The Phenomena of Nordic Noir | Thomas Enger and Ørjan Karlsson | Why Nordic authors excel in mystery | Conversation – Fiction |
| June 28, 2025 | 7:30 p.m. | A Murder Most Proper: An Immersive Murder Mystery | — | 1930s immersive evening of scandal and secrets | Performance – The Performance Series |
| June 29, 2025 | 11:00 a.m. | University of Toronto Forensic Anthropology Workshop | University of Toronto Mississauga | Forensic science workshop presented by University of Toronto Mississauga | Workshop – True Crime |
| June 29, 2025 | 11:00 a.m. | Tea Cake and Murder: Till Death Do Us Part | Sue Hincenbergs and Catherine Mack | Start your day with tea, cake... and murder! | Conversation – Fiction |
| June 29, 2025 | 11:00 a.m. | Toronto Crime Tours | — | Learn about the dark history of Toronto in the story series! | Free – True Crime |
| June 29, 2025 | 11:30 a.m. | The Hitman: Julian Sher & Lisa Fitterman | Julian Sher and Lisa Fitterman | Join the authors for a look into the mind of a killer – and the justice system that struggled to contain him. | Conversation – True Crime |
| June 29, 2025 | 12:00 p.m. | A Brief History of Canadian Duels | Adam Bunch | Join Adam Bunch for an outdoor story time | Presentation – True Crime |
| June 29, 2025 | 12:00 p.m. | Introducing Tension and Pace to Narrative Storytelling | Denise Mina | Learn from the best in a Creative Writing Masterclass | Masterclass – Writer's Craft |
| June 29, 2025 | 12:15 p.m. | Cozy Crime Capers | Uzma Jalaluddin and Jonathan Whitelaw | Curl up with a cozy mystery | Conversation – Fiction |
| June 29, 2025 | 1:00 p.m. | Trope and Dagger: Playing (and Breaking) the Rules in Mystery Novels | Margaret Cannon, Karen Sullivan & Gregg Hurwitz | Learn the pros' favourite mystery tropes! | Panel Discussion – Writer's Craft |
| June 29, 2025 | 1:00 p.m. | Time Will Tell | Jane Corry | Could you keep a deadly secret for twenty years? | Conversation – Fiction |
| June 29, 2025 | 1:30 p.m. | Dark Secrets, Rural Crimes | Thomas Enger and Marcie Rendon | Thrillers aren't just exclusive to big cities... | Conversation – Fiction |
| June 29, 2025 | 2:00 p.m. | Writing the Detective: From Maigret to Marlowe | Graeme Macrae Burnet and Denise Mina | Join these two titans of tartan noir for a discussion on iconic detectives | The Re-Read – The Re-Read |
| June 29, 2025 | 2:00 p.m. | Right Down to the Bone: The Identity of Jane Doe | Gregory Grace-Alcock | Forensic science workshop presented by University of Toronto Mississauga | Free – True Crime |
| June 29, 2025 | 2:15 p.m. | Truth & Consequences | Peter Edwards and Anaïs Renevier | What does it take to escape a life of crime? | Conversation – True Crime |
| June 29, 2025 | 2:30 p.m. | Murder, She Chuckled: Writing Comedy in Crime | Sue Hincenbergs, Catherine Mack, and Jonathan Whitelaw | Dive into the art of writing crime fiction that’s as funny as it is suspenseful | Panel Discussion – Writer's Craft |
| June 29, 2025 | 3:30 p.m. | Crime? It’s in Fashion | Katherine Ashenburg and Barry Avrich | Call the fashion police and the real police | Conversation – True Crime |
| June 29, 2025 | 3:30 p.m. | Canadian Crime Writing | Margaret Cannon and Shari Lapena | From small-town secrets to icy thrillers, Canadian crime fiction has carved its own identity | Conversation – Fiction |
| June 29, 2025 | 3:30 p.m. | Turning Your Story Into A Book | Julian Sher | Learn from the best in a Creative Writing Masterclass | Masterclass – Writer's Craft |
| June 29, 2025 | 4:00 p.m. | Crime Writers of Canada in Conversation | — | Join us to hear the latest in Canadian crime fiction! | Exhibition – Fiction |
| June 29, 2025 | 4:30 p.m. | All Aboard the Night Train | Linwood Barclay | For fans of horror | Conversation – Fiction |