Missing from the Village: The Story of Serial Killer Bruce McArthur, the Search for Justice, and the System that Failed Toronto’s Queer Community

This is the tragic story of the disappearance of 8 men from Toronto\’s queer community, discovered to be the victim\’s of serial killer Bruce McArthur. Author Justin Ling gives us a horrific story that was extremely well-researched and told with an abundance of compassion. Focusing on the 8 victims and their stories is what sets this true crime novel apart from others that dwell on the murderer and his methods. We are told about the systematic failures regarding the police, government, etc… because of who the victims were, and how the community came together insisting this investigation move forward. This is a chapter in Toronto\’s history that must not be repeated! Superb investigative journalism!

Justin Ling has injected a grace note into the lives of a group of vulnerable people marginalized for one reason or another, by one group or another, by one circumstance or another. They became victims of a serial killer who moved confidently among the Village gay population in Toronto and he (and who else?) considered them disposable. Justin Ling is an investigative journalist who has written this earnest account of the lives and deaths of these victims with compassion and empathy without hiding his anger.His writing flows with a perfect cadence from beginning to end.

Justin Ling\’s account of such a tragedy is spearheaded by empathy for the families and friends of the victims. It\’s not a \”true crime\” novel, it\’s a story about people.

The story about these teriible murders and their victims is extremely well told (however without a single photograph). Unfortunately the last chapters of the book shifts into a poliitical manifesto against all marginalied individuals and advocates the need to defund the police, heck it even reels in Harvey Milk. This true crime account should be classified in the Political Science category, I would have skipped this one alltogether.

3.5 stars. This is a well-researched and disturbing book that chronicles the history of Toronto\’s gay village and the horrific serial killings of queer men mostly of South Asian or Middle Eastern appearance. The author prefers the term \’queer\’ for people of the gay community and explains this is not a derogatory term. This is a powerful indictment of the police force and society\’s systematic marginalization of minorities: gay people, Indigenous women, black and brown people, sex workers, trans women, homeless, and drug addicts. The author, investigative reporter. Justin Ling was an appropriate person to write about the crimes of Bruce McArthur because he identifies with the gay community and is familiar with Toronto\’s Village. He writes with empathy and compassion for the victims and gives a searing account of the omissions and failures of the police force. He also praises individual officers for diligently carrying out their duties during a difficult, lengthy investigation. Unlike some true crime books, this does not read like a novel. it tends to be disjointed, meandering, and sometimes repetitive, but so was the investigation. It is a profound statement of the failure of society to ignore such crimes and he makes suggestions for a better, more caring and inclusive future. Foremost, was the difficulty and ignorance of the police department to take seriously the reports by devastated family and friends. They had difficulty convincing police that the men were actually missing. It was suggested that the person probably moved away and simply did not want to be found. Often the missing person\’s name was not even entered in a database. It was left up to friends to endlessly search and to post Missing Persons posters all over the Village. When the posters of the first three missing men were distributed, Justin Ling was struck by their similarity in appearance and was obsessed with the idea that a serial killer might be attacking men of Mid Eastern appearance. He began reporting on these cases and discovering connections. He criticizes some reporters for the intrusive way they questioned family and friends, adding to their grief. Later, more men of South Asian and Middle Eastern appearance were missing from gay bars and nightclubs in the Village. Computer searches informed Ling that these were not the first disappearances, and he also discovered that trans women were being murdered. The gay community felt fearful and targeted by a serial killer. The police were still denying that these cases were connected and there was no evidence of a serial killer. Ling remarks that the profiling of serial killers is not an accurate science because their number is so small. He describes the large number,( possibly 49), Indigenous women who became victims of pig farmer, Robert Picton, in BC. When they went missing police ignored worried friends and families until it was much too late. He also gives accounts of brutality by police against Blacks and other marginalized people in Canada and elsewhere. Investigations for the Village killings lead to a cannibal website in Europe and to a loose connection of one of the missing men to Luka Magnotta who posted a gruesome video on the internet. This went nowhere. In 2019, Bruce McArthur was finally arrested and plead guilty to the murder of 8 men. He owned a landscape business and had dismembered the bodies and placed them in planters on a client\’s property. Ling believes some other people who disappeared may be among his victims but the case is now closed.

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