A Walk on the Widers Side

Other people die of mumps

Or general decay,

Of fevers, chills or other ills

But Wilders walk away.

That's the little ditty they all sing in the quaintly picturesque New England village of Wilders Lane. That's part of the mystery too, of course. You see from pre-Revolutionary War times on, members of the Wilder family never die; they walk way-disappear into thin air-forever. Footprints on a deserted beach may simply stop. A man who enters an office building is never seen again.

Teen-aged Ellen Wilder is waiting for a bus when she walks away. Well, not quite. Reynold Frame, a photojournalist on assignment from Life, finds a fresh grave with the murdered girl in it.

Frame begins an investigation. And then he too disappears!

One thing is certain. Wilders may wander off as they please, but readers will be riveted by this marvelous tour-de-force.