“The Song of the Crayfish”
Is Author Delia Owens In A Murder Trial?
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“The Song of the Crayfish” – with this novel, the American Delia Owens succeeded in becoming an international bestseller. It has now been revealed that her name has been linked to a murder in Zambia. Isn’t the book so fictional?
In her famous novel, Delia Owens tells the story of Kya Clark – the march girl. In her stories she combines a crime story with the story of growing up, the first great love and a bitter disappointment, encased in the detailed impressions of the fascinating marshland of the coastal town of Barkley Cove in the USA.
Author Delia Owens lived in Zambia for 20 years
A body is discovered at the very beginning of the novel. Chase Andrews is found in the march – everyone agrees: it can only have been the march girl. The march is a perfect place for a murder because it devours the tracks and evidence.
The detailed description of nature is most likely due to the fact that Owens lived as a zoologist and activist in Africa surrounded by nature. Together with her husband, the biologist Mark Owens, and his son from his first marriage, Christopher Owens, she campaigned for the protection of elephants and did research on site, according to the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”.
Delia Owens is mentioned in connection with a murder
Like Kyas, Owen’s name is now linked to a murder. It is still unclear whether she was just a witness, an accomplice or herself involved. The Owens lived in North Luangwa National Park in Zambia for almost 20 years. The aim of their work was to protect the elephants from poachers. As a research by the journalist Jeffrey Goldberg, who disclosed his findings for the magazine “The Atlantic”, shows, if necessary with violence.
According to the Süddeutsche Zeitung, the recordings of the ABC News station, which accompanied the couple for the 1996 documentary “Deadly Game: The Mark an Delia Owens Story”, indicated a murder. The camera continued to roll as a man was shot dead for seemingly no apparent reason. The recordings do not reveal who pulled the trigger, but the identity of the dead person also remains unclear. The cameraman later explained that Christopher Owens fired the shot.
The Owens couple are said to have cracked down on poachers
The research of the journalist Goldberg would have revealed that at the time Delia and Mark Owens sometimes dealt very brutally with people who classified them as a danger to wild animals. The self-appointed animal rights activists tied people to posts and beat them. Several people are said to have been killed in their anti-poaching operations. The Owens’ lawyers deny the allegations. According to media reports, the couple has been wanted by the authorities in Zambia for some time. They now live in Idaho, USA.
It seems odd that a murder that took place on camera went unsolved. The former Zambian police commissioner Graphael Musamba explains it in an interview with “The Atlantic”: “The bush is the perfect place to commit a murder. The animals eat the evidence.” However, evidence suggests that Mark Owens dumped the body in his helicopter in a nearby lagoon.
A murder in the middle of nature, which happened out of the conviction to act justly – without revealing too much about the book, there are astonishing parallels between Delia Owens’ experiences and her fictional novel. Where are the limits of reality and where does fiction begin? We’ll probably never find out. In Zambia, voices are currently being raised again that the author and activist should finally testify in court. Because: At the moment, Owens is back in the spotlight. “The Song of the Crayfish” is being filmed and will soon be in cinemas.
Sources used: sueddeutsche.de