Paul Begg is better known to me from his Jack the Ripper writings. I'm glad to see he's turned his research talent and common sense to the topic of missing people. Though this book was written in the seventies, it's not terribly dated. There's a centerfold of pictures, some of them curiously irrelevant to the book. Begg mentions a few contemporary cases but mainly focuses on mysterious vanishings thought by some to be paranormal. He discusses the Bermuda Triangle, the disappearance of the captain and crew of the Mary Celeste, and the story about the guy who vanished crossing a field, among other cases. Begg is a very good debunker. Going back through the old records, he is able to prove that many of these wild stories about disappearances are replete with serious errors, if not made up entirely. (He's especially good at this in his Bermuda Triangle chapter.)

I wouldn't call this a true crime book, since most of the cases he discusses are not criminal in nature. But it would interest anyone interested in the paranormal (skeptic and believer alike) and, of course, anyone interested in missing persons. ( )