The Evil Within (previously published as Becky) by Darren Galsworthy and some literary tourism

 

A few weeks ago, I travelled to Alabama for work. I was going to a course on digital evidence and computer forensics.  The course I was taking was just outside of Birmingham in the city of Hoover. I got in really early on the day before the course started so I drove down to Montgomery, which is about and hour South and a straight shot down I-65.  I was hoping to get some pizza from one particular place called Can a Brotha Get a Slice, but they were unfortunately closed on Sundays - I really wanted to go there because honestly the name is great and the pizza looked good.  The trip wasn't completely wasted.  I got to see a number of things, including the Historical Archives (above) and the Fitzgerald's house (Scott and Zelda). That was cool.  When I was in Atlanta, I got to see the Margaret Mitchell house - going to these things is just one of my quirks I guess. 

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I just finished this book last night.  I read it because one of the podcasts I listen to has a book club (the discussion is tonight so nothing like waiting until the last minute to finish a book) and this was the selection this month.  Becky Watts - the girl on the cover - was murdered by her stepbrother, Nathan, and his girlfriend, Shauna, in 2015 when Becky was only 16. She was then dismembered by him. When Becky's dad, Darren, found out about the facts of the case, it devastated him. This book is one of the ways that I think that he coped with the loss of his daughter.  He discusses his history and tells the story of Becky's short life from his perspective as well as what happened when she went missing, their discovery of what happened, the trial and the sentencing. 

I found the story itself to be really haunting and terrifying.  Any crime is particularly horrific when it's this nature but the circumstances of this one in particular stayed with me and I can't imagine what it would have been like to be Mr. Galsworthy, to have lost a child like this. While I found the chapters about Becky's life and the leadup to the trial to be more interesting then the court procedural part (insofar as a what happened and what drove Nathan to do this), on an intellectual level, I found the court procedural part was interesting as well.  The British criminal justice system is very different from the American justice system and I wanted to hear more about that.  

I found that the writing style made it somewhat difficult to get through the book though.  I could only take it in short snippets.  Respectfully, it is quite obvious that Mr. Galsworthy is not an author so for someone that likes to physically read and takes joy in a well crafted sentence that was difficult (if the book is in audiobook form that may be the better form to consume it in). There is also adult language which is understandable considering what the book is about.

I think that this is an important book on many levels and, in spite of the (minor) criticism that I had about writing style, I think it's well down. It draws attention to the impact that crime such as this has on families and highlights that crime is usually committed by people we know or are familiar with. Mr. Galsworthy was certainly brave to write this book and to put himself out there in such a powerfully vulnerable way.  I genuinely hope that writing this book helped him to find some degree of peace (knowing and understanding that the powerful feelings related to losing a child like this will not ever go away). 

Definitely a must read for any true crime fan.