DISAPPEARANCES: TRUE ACCOUNTS OF CANADIANS WHO HAVE VANISHED Derrick Murdoch. Toronto, Doubleday, c1983. 204pp, cloth, $17.95. ISBN 0-385-17711-9. Grades 12 and up. Reviewed by Mary Fallis. Volume 11 Number 5. 1983 September. Derrick Murdoch, author of this work, has been the regular crime literature reviewer for the Globe and Mail for twenty years. His other published book, The Agatha Christie Mystery, was nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe Award in 1977. Very familiar with the field he is reviewing, he is able to make observations about patterns of behaviour related to criminal situations and to sociological trends. This reviewer would not from choice sit down to read accounts of a dozen or more criminal, and for the most part, ghoulish occurrences, but she found his introductory and statistical comments and his "Roundup" chapter on disappearances in Canada informative and thought-provoking. The number of disappearances in a given year is large; the recovery rate by the police is high too, though not all missing persons are alive and well when they are located. Included is advice for parents and the public about reporting disappearances promptly and working with the police. It is a very well-written account in the effective compact prose of the experienced journalist. He chooses appropriate chapter headings: "Runaways, Ramblers and Rascals," "Unusual Disturbance in Forest Hill," "The Nestlings," "Remains in Doubt." The writing is objective and frequently real names have been withheld: he explains "this is primarily intended to serve as a study of an interesting and recurrent human phenomenon rather than as a reference source." Recommended for adult libraries, and for students of journalism, sociology, and criminology. Mary Fallis, Prince George, BC.