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Bestselling novelist and husband ... in murder controversy ('Publishers Lunch' story)

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E G Logan

Full Member
Joined
Nov 11, 2018
Location
Liguria, Italy
LitBits
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Italy
An interesting article in Atlantic Magazine, picked up by Publishers Lunch, reveals Delia Owens, author of best-selling Where the Crawdads Sing, her husband and her stepson are all still wanted for questioning in Zambia about a 1990s murder – that took place in front of ABC TV cameras.

 
That's why I couldn't bring myself to line her pocket by buying the book. A friend lent it to me so I read it. It was a good read, a very emotionally absorbing read. But the inclusion of Sunday Justice as the jail-cat's name sent shivers down my spine, as did the reveal at the end. Was that actually an answer to the Zambia case?
Interestingly, and horrifically, the stepson, Chris Owens, has been in trouble with the law in USA since then: drunken brawls and shooting a neighbour farmer's dog.
 
Well now I feel like an idiot. I had no idea about the controversy surrounding this book and just bought it recently. (It sits in my handbag and I only read it on the train. TBH I don't find it that interesting. I just thought the title was cool.)
But my point is:

Ughh
I had no idea either until I saw it in Publishers Lunch.
I had thought her only problem might be criticism for cultural appropriation, since she is not exactly an orphan of the bayou...
 
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