Truth, Tragedy, and Cover-Up: The Book Shaking Canada This Summer

Paul Palango’s Anatomy of a Cover-Up: The Truth about the RCMP and the Nova Scotia Massacres is a gripping and deeply unsettling exposé that continues to dominate Canadian bestseller lists—including the Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail—for good reason.

As a follow-up to his previous bestseller 22 Murders, Palango returns with even sharper investigative precision, peeling back layers of secrecy surrounding the deadliest mass shooting in Canadian history.

The book revisits the horrific events of April 2020, when Gabriel Wortman embarked on a 13-hour rampage across rural Nova Scotia, killing 22 people while impersonating a police officer. Despite the scale and brutality of the massacre, Palango argues that the official response—particularly by the RCMP and the Mass Casualty Commission—has been riddled with evasions, omissions, and institutional self-protection.

Drawing on thousands of pages of commission documents, interviews, and forensic evidence, Palango builds a compelling case that the RCMP’s handling of the tragedy was not just flawed but potentially compromised. He explores the possibility that Wortman may have had ties to law enforcement or was acting as a police agent—an explosive theory that the commission largely sidestepped. The book doesn’t just ask hard questions—it demands accountability.

Palango is no stranger to challenging powerful institutions. A veteran journalist who served as national editor at The Globe and Mail, he has spent decades at the forefront of Canadian investigative reporting. His work has earned him accolades like the Michener Award and a reputation for fearless journalism. In Anatomy of a Cover-Up, he channels that experience into a narrative that is both meticulous and emotionally resonant.

What sets this book apart is its refusal to let the story end with bureaucratic closure. Palango’s writing is urgent, raw, and unflinching. He doesn’t just document the failures—he interrogates the culture of secrecy that allowed them to persist. In doing so, he offers a broader critique of Canadian law enforcement and the justice system, exposing a pattern of institutional cover-ups that extends beyond Nova Scotia.

For readers interested in true crime, public accountability, or Canadian politics, Anatomy of a Cover-Up is essential reading. It’s not just a book—it’s a call to action. And its success on the bestseller charts is a testament to the public’s hunger for truth in the face of tragedy.

TITLE: Anatomy of a Cover-Up: The Truth about the RCMP and the Nova Scotia Massacres
AUTHOR: Paul Palango
PUBLISHER: 1039010121
ISBN 13: 978-1039010123
ISBN 10: Random House Canada
PAGES: 480