Watching the Devil Dance

Part of our regional history program, this true crime story could appeal to a wider readership, i.e. the Netflix generation and fans of the Serial podcast A retired history teacher and Mountie, the author conducted extensive interviews and brings a unique perspective and body of experience to the story. Potential social and political relevance with regards to recruitment and enlistment of young men into violent terrorist organizations and debates about criminal rehabilitation.

“Praise for Watching the Devil Dance "A vital addition to the Canadian true crime canon. Packed with agonizing moment after agonizing moment, Watching the Devil Dance takes you from the bloodied sidewalks to the moan-filled hallways of Oak Ridge and places the Matthew Lamb case at the centre of a turning point in legal history, offering a peek into Canadian history rarely examined and highlighting the historic failings of the criminal justice system in our country. This is not just a regional crime story. It is a tragedy with national implications."--Vanessa Brown, author of The Forest City Killer: A Serial Murderer, A Cold-Case Sleuth, and a Search for Justice "An unusual tale marked by fascinating elements that are unique to the era in which his crimes occurred. [Toffan's] book offers detailed insight into a type of criminal that would later become more prevalent: the mass murderer." --Toronto Star "Fascinating, measured, and compulsively readable, Watching the Devil Dance is essential true crime reading and a chilling indictment of the failings of the justice system." --Open Book”

Praise for Watching the Devil Dance

"A vital addition to the Canadian true crime canon. Packed with agonizing moment after agonizing moment, Watching the Devil Dance takes you from the bloodied sidewalks to the moan-filled hallways of Oak Ridge and places the Matthew Lamb case at the centre of a turning point in legal history, offering a peek into Canadian history rarely examined and highlighting the historic failings of the criminal justice system in our country. This is not just a regional crime story. It is a tragedy with national implications."—Vanessa Brown, author of The Forest City Killer: A Serial Murderer, A Cold-Case Sleuth, and a Search for Justice

“An unusual tale marked by fascinating elements that are unique to the era in which his crimes occurred. [Toffan’s] book offers detailed insight into a type of criminal that would later become more prevalent: the mass murderer.” —Toronto Star

“An impressive debut ... By any yardstick, this is an excellent true-crime book. Toffan develops context and provides understanding, especially of the law. He also renders a gripping account of the murders, without ever sensationalizing the violence he recounts.”—Winnipeg Free Press

“Fascinating, measured, and compulsively readable, Watching the Devil Dance is essential true crime reading and a chilling indictment of the failings of the justice system.” —Open Book

“With spectacular insight Toffan details the horrible tragedy of Lamb’s shooting spree, submerging the reader in that era and putting them right in the middle of the story. Toffan also gives us a very generous amount of background on Lamb which is essential in understanding the mind of a killer ... This is a must read for crime story lovers.”—The Horror Report

A retired history teacher and veteran of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, William Toffan lives in Windsor, Ontario, with his wife, Laura, and children Lauren, Heidi, Oksana, and Heather. Watching the Devil Dance is his first book.

In June 1966, Matthew Charles Lamb took his uncle's shotgun and wandered down Ford Blvd. At the end of the bloody night, two teenagers lay dead, with multiple others injured after an unprovoked shooting spree. In his investigation into Lamb's story, William Toffan pieces together the troubled childhood and the history of violence that culminated in the young man's dubious distinction as Canada's first known spree killer--at which point the story becomes, the author writes "too strange for fiction." Traveling from the border city streets, to the courtroom, to the Oak Ridge rehabilitation center, and finally the Rhodesian army, Watching the Devil Dance is both a thrilling narrative about an unbelievable true crime and an insightful analysis of the 1960s criminal justice system.

Part of our regional history program, this true crime story could appeal to a wider readership, i.e. the Netflix generation and fans of the Serial podcastA retired history teacher and Mountie, the author conducted extensive interviews and brings a unique perspective and body of experience to the story.Potential social and political relevance with regards to recruitment and enlistment of young men into violent terrorist organizations and debates about criminal rehabilitation.

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