Missing Persons: A Writer's Guide to Finding the Lost, the Abducted and the Escaped

Howdunit Series

by Fay Faron

With Missing Persons in hand you'll find the types that commonly become PIs - ex-cops, macho criminal wannabes, reporters; the easiest people to find (men, property owners and professionals) and the hardest (women, scoundrels and those with common names); profiles of the missing and profiles of those searching; how and why people hide; what can be gleaned from public record; secret and not-so-secret databases; and the lowdown on interviewing, surveillance and the benefits of a good scam.
Missing Persons goes beyond the basic search, and details the process of looking for someone, typical clients and the reaction once the missing is found. There's more than a presentation of facts here. Faron backs up her clues with anecdotes from Rat Dog case files. As with any good whodunit, Faron's engaging style and true-life adventures will have you turning pages. In short, every gumshoe's search should begin here.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Reference, Research, True Crime

276 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1997

About the author

Fay Faron first came into the national conscienceless in 1982 when she founded The Rat Dog Dick Detective Agency in San Francisco. In 1991, her advice column, “Ask Rat Dog,” was syndicated by King Features, leading to appearances on virtually every major TV talk & news show of the decade, including Oprah (3 times), Larry King Live and Good Morning America.

Faron has authored three books (“Missing Persons” & “Rip-off,” published by Writer’s Digest; and the self-published, “A Nasty Bit of Business”) and been the subject of “Hastened to their Graves,” a true crime by Edgar award-winning author, Jack Olsen.

In 2001, Faron sold her detective agency and moved to Louisiana, where she was named “Ferrygodmother of New Orleans” in 2016 for saving the local ferry system. In 2020, she was awarded Marquis Who’s Who Lifetime Achievement Award” for her investigative endeavors and community activism.

“Journey of an Ex-Teetotaling Virgin” is a memoir of her traveling years right out of college.

Reviews

[A.J. Downey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Felt the author was spending far too much time making herself look clever than she was actually providing any worthwhile information. Felt if you got rid of all of that, the book would only be one-third of the length it is now.

Anything I gleaned out of this book that could and would be any kind of useful to me wasn't especially useful overall unless the story I was working on and reading this for research material for was set in the 90's. I suppose it's not her fault that much of the information is outdated, but I would love to find a book similar to this that takes into account the technological advances that have been made.

[Dan Beliveau · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book years ago and finally got around to reading it.
Told in a casual way, Faron offers stories from her own agency to illustrate her points. Because of this, it's an incredibly easy read packed with information.

WARNING: this version is dated. IDK if there is an updated version, but it's still a great resource.

[Adam Davis · Rating 1 out of 5]

Honestly, I lost interest by chapter 3 and instead chose a different book on the topic. It might suit your purposes, but it didn't mine. I found it dry, difficult to follow and not at all entertaining.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This gives you a good idea both of what a private detective's work is like, and of how they go about tracing missing people. It probably won't come as a surprise that it is not as glamorous or dangerous or exciting as it looks on TV and the movies. Much of the work involves looking through records and cross-checking information. Sometimes the PI makes an occasional phone call to get some info (often under a false pretext), and sometimes they even ring a doorbell or two to confront someone's long-lost lover or relative. Many of their clients (and the people they are seeking) have serious problems. Most people-tracing cases, says Faron, involve a lonely soul remembering a long lost lover, perhaps someone who dumped them, and wanting to see what they are doing and if there is still a spark.

The book was written in 1997 and could use an update. There is virtually no mention of the internet here, and I would wager that a lot of the searching PIs do today involves perusing various online databases. There is nothing about this work that seems particularly oriented toward writers - this would be a good title for anyone curious about the subject, but who would be most likely to be curious other than someone who aspires to be the next Raymond Chandler? For instance, there is no reference here to any famous missing person case, either actual or fictional. It might have been interesting to see her thoughts on some of those.

But give Faron credit for apparently telling it like it is, and also for fleshing out her book with some interesting stuff that is indirectly related to the subject. The section titled "Profile of the Scoundrel" is a good one, and features information on con games, hustles, deadbeat clients and the like. The entire book is peppered with interesting anecdotes drawn from Faron's career, all told in her world-weary, wisecracking voice. And she is a good storyteller (even if there could have been a little more detail in some of her yarns) - she sticks to the facts, and includes a lot of seen-it-all wit. Overall, this is a good member of the Writers Digest Howdunit Series - I hope to read more of them. It certainly does illustrate that there is a world of difference between a well-crafted missing person mystery and the actual work of an investigator trying to trace someone.

[R.Z. · Rating 1 out of 5]

A how-to book on tracking missing persons is a needed reference for crime writers, but in my opinion this one doesn't measure up. The author Fay Faron is so busy wisecracking about her own experiences as a private investigator that the substance for writers of how to write about missing persons cases is minimal. What is excellent about the book is the outline of subjects covered which seems full. Too bad that the author isn't serious about actually helping writers. It seems that writers' needs are subordinated to the author's need to be clever.

[Morven · Rating 3 out of 5]

The version I have was published in 1997. I'm sure a lot of things have changed since then, but I still found it interesting.

If you're writing a story or novel that has a private investigator, this might be a good resource.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a must read for all aspiring authors who want to know some aspects for writing about missing people. (Unfortunately, I don't have some books, since they're out of print...)

[T.M. Carper · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wasn't as helpful as I thought it would be.

[Daniel Cornwall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though this book dates from the 1990s, most of the information still seems to be relevant. Wish there was a new edition.

[Jessica]

Just got this one from half.com and couldn't help but start reading.