From Muskeg to Murder by Andrew F. Maksymchuk begins by chronicling the epic struggles and enormous challenges of the author's ancestors as they scrounged a living under the oppressive regime of the Tzar in 19th Century Ukraine.
They finally fled their desperate situation, eventually settling in the free and serene environs of Canada.
As a boy in rural British Columbia in the mid 20th century, Andrew Maksymchuk is enthralled by the stories of his immigrant families escape from oppression, and he dreams of fighting injustice.
That dream becomes a reality when, at 21 he is initiated
into the Ontario Provincial Police Force.
 
Sent to serve in remote Northwestern Ontario, he learns his
craft in its mining centres, pulp and paper industry
communities, Indian reservations, native settlements and boom
towns.
"Maks" tracks lawbreakers on foot across frozen muskeg, by canoe and speed boats along breathtaking waterways, by rail along the CNR's ribbons of steel and by airplane above the vastness of the Canadian Shield.
The book is a memoir of the first twelve years of his career. He also spent three years with the OPP in Sudbury. Both of his children have followed in his footsteps and serve the public as police officers in Ontario.
Andrew and his wife Myra make their retirement home in Vernon, B.C.
From Muskeg to Murder is available at One More Book Store, 765 Barry Downe Rd., 566-7323, www.trafford.com and www.amazon.ca .
