Missing from the Village, Justin Ling
Missing from the Village, Justin Ling
List: $24.95 | Sale: $17.47
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Missing from the Village
The Story of Serial Killer Bruce McArthur, the Search for Justice, and the System That Failed Toronto's Queer Community

Author: Justin Ling

Narrator: Justin Ling

Unabridged: 8 hr 51 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/29/2020


Synopsis

The tragic and resonant story of the disappearance of eight men--the victims of serial killer Bruce McArthur--from Toronto's queer community.
 
Shortlisted for the 2021 Toronto Book Awards

In 2013, the Toronto Police Service announced that the disappearances of three men--Skandaraj Navaratnam, Abdulbasir Faizi, and Majeed Kayhan--from Toronto's gay village were, perhaps, linked. When the leads ran dry, the investigation was shut down, on paper classified as "open but suspended." By 2015, investigative journalist Justin Ling had begun to retrace investigators' steps, convinced there was evidence of a serial killer. Meanwhile, more men would go missing, and police would continue to deny that there was a threat to the community. On January 18, 2018, Bruce McArthur, a landscaper, would be arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder. In February 2019, he was sentenced to life in prison for the murders of eight men.
     This extraordinary book tells the complete story of the McArthur murders. Based on more than five years of in-depth reporting, this is also a story of police failure, of how the queer community responded, and the story of the eight men who went missing and the lives they left behind. In telling that story, Justin Ling uncovers the latent homophobia and racism that kept this case unsolved and unseen. This gripping book reveals how police agencies across the country fail to treat missing persons cases seriously, and how policies and laws, written at every level of government, pushed McArthur's victims out of the light and into the shadows.

About The Author

JUSTIN LING is an investigative journalist whose reporting has focused on stories and issues undercovered and misunderstood. His writing has appeared in Vice News, BuzzFeed, Foreign Policy, Motherboard, the Globe and Mail, the National Post, and the Guardian. In 2019 he hosted "The Village," the third season of the CBC podcast Uncover, which examined cold cases from the 1970s that were reopened as a result of the McArthur investigation.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Rowan

Missing from the Village is a refreshingly empathetic work by Justin Ling. It was simultaneously a book I couldn’t put down, and one I found overwhelmingly difficult to read. Heartbreaking, tragic, frustrating, anger-inducing. It’s a fantastic piece of journalism about horrific crimes and injustices......more

Goodreads review by NILTON

3.75 stars I rarely read non-fiction, but I wanted to read this book because I lived and worked in that community for 19.5 years and during these cases. Although I have not met any of the victims, I did frequent some of the same locations and walked on the same streets, so everything was very familiar......more


Quotes

Named a Best Book of the Year by The Globe and Mail and Indigo
Finalist for the Toronto Book Awards
Winner of the Brass Knuckles Award for Best Nonfiction Crime Book (Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence)


Missing from the Village bears respectful witness to this terrible story, from the sights and sounds of the night the first man disappeared to the plaintive and heart-wrenching victim-impact statements following McArthur’s guilty plea in court. Ling provides a worthy record of an unfathomable tragedy.” —Quill & Quire, starred review

“Part detective story, part journalist’s notebook, Missing from the Village is a wildly engaging read, taking us through agonizing missteps and heart-wrenching losses.” —Matthew Hays, Cult MTL

“Justin Ling’s Missing from the Village is a careful, infuriating book documenting the murder of eight men in Toronto and the police inaction that failed to protect the community.” —Xtra

"Well-researched and thoughtful portrait of a tragedy." —JP Larocque, Spacing

“Based on more than five years of in-depth reporting, this is also a story of police failure, of how the queer community responded, and the story of the eight men who went missing and the lives they left behind. In telling that story, Ling uncovers the latent homophobia and racism that kept these cases unsolved and unseen. This gripping book . . . also reveals how police agencies across the country fail to treat missing person cases seriously, and how policies and laws, written at every level of government, pushed McArthur's victims out of the light and into the shadows.” —Ruth Sutherland, The Daily Mail


Awards

  • Kobo Emerging Writer Prize