Since they declared it a ‘murder-suicide’ in the days following the discovery of their bodies, I didn’t believe it. Did anyone? This journalistic work does a lot to uncover the possible alternative considerations. Written with drama and pace, bouncing back and forth between the Sherman’s history, personal relationships, and professional lives, and the ‘real-time’ investigation, the book allows insight to emerge as the investigators unveil the reality of what happened to this iconic Toronto couple. 

They were normal, frugal, both heavily influence by their shared childhood experiences, and forever changed by the devastating repercussions of what their parents’ generation suffered. 

So, the question remains: who killed Barry and Honey Sherman? Because it was certainly not a ‘murder-suicide’ as first played off by the media—that just doesn’t make sense. But the list of suspects—compiled of both individuals and institutions—is long and complicated, and was likely someone close to the couple. But maybe the police couldn’t make an arrest because the perpetrator(s) had fled the country.

There are too many unanswered questions that remain, though Donovan does a superb job of raising all the buried information and filling in details where the media had previously left gaps.

Overall, the investigation that Donovan outlines in his work here is far more than anyone has yet offered to the public around this case. It is a worthwhile read for the curious Torontonians (and others) who were never satisfied with the way this case seemed razed and buried with the multimillion dollar home in which the Sherman’s bodies were discovered.