Richard J. Tofel

Vanishing Point is one of only two full-length books about the infamous 1930 disappearance of Joseph Force Crater, the other book being Crater's wife's memoir, The Empty Robe. Studying both books as a unit will reveal much about Crater's disappearance; Mrs. Crater's is more personal, but Tofel's has an objectivity the memoir necessarily lacks. One gets the impression that Tofel really wanted to write about Tammany Hall politics and was just using the Crater mystery as an excuse to do so, as much of his book concerns the life and crimes of various other New York politicians who were only tangentially connected to Crater. But you can easily skip over those parts if they don't interest you.

Tofel's conclusion is that Crater died of natural causes while patronizing a well-known house of prostitution, and his body was disposed of to prevent the scandal that would have resulted. I suppose there is much evidence supporting this theory as there is for any of the many others—that is, none. But no matter what supposition you subscribe to, Crater's disappearance remains an engaging mystery.… (mehr)