Former homicide detective penning second murder-mystery novel
A 44-year policing career spanning six decades began with a young man’s commitment.
Barrie police Staff Sgt. Norm Meech, who officially retires at the end of the month, has been with the service just shy of 25 years and prior to that was a CN Police officer for more than 17 years. (And yes, they do carry sidearms.)
“I originally got into policing because I thought it was a noble profession,” Meech says. “I wanted to help people and I believed in the justice system. Victims of crime needed police assistance and criminals had to be held accountable for their actions.”
Meech published his first book — The Trash Man Justice for All — in August 2019, a fictional murder mystery about a retired cop who reluctantly gets dragged into a murder investigation.
He expects the sequel, Murder at the River Street Mansion, to be published in the new year.
“As you know, police officers over the years gain a lot of policing experience and see a lot of unusual things,” Meech says. “I thought that I could use some of my experiences and write some fictional murder mysteries.
“Although I am an inexperienced author, I enjoy writing. I learned a lot about publishing with my first book that will help me with my second one.”
Local residents won’t recognize any local crime scenes, criminal characters or memorable investigations in his books after he put that in writing for his police superiors.
Besides fighting the bad guys, Meech says a big challenge for police over the years has been the ever-changing face of technology.
