True story that inspired murder mystery on Netflix with impressive Rotten Tomatoes score
Where The Crawdads Sing is believed to have been inspired by true events.
The book of the same name hit shelves in 2018, and was written by acclaimed author, Delia Owens.
She's also penned a series of other books alongside her ex husband, Mark Owens, including The Eye of the Elephant, Survivor's Song and Cry of the Kalahari.
By 2022, Where The Crawdads Sing had been made into a movie, with Normal People actress Daisy Edgar-Jones starring as the lead of Kya Clark.
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What is Where The Crawdads Sing about?
The synopsis for the 2022 movie reads: "Abandoned as a girl, Kya raised herself in the dangerous marshlands of North Carolina. For years, rumors of the marsh girl haunted Barkley Cove, isolating the sharp and resilient Kya from her community.
"Drawn to two young men from town, she opens herself to a new and startling world. However, when one of them is found dead, Kya immediately becomes the main suspect. As the case unfolds, the verdict as to what happened becomes increasingly unclear, threatening to reveal many secrets."
The movie wasn't very well received by critics, but went on to be a hit with viewers.
At the time of writing, Where The Crawdads Sing has just 35 percent on Rotten Tomatoes' Tomatometer, in comparison to a 96 percent Audience Score.
Is it based on a true story?
Technically, no. But the book is believed to draw inspiration from Delia Owens' personal life.
In the book, Chase Andrews is murdered, with Kya ending up as the number one suspect. While the character of Kya isn't based on Owens, the author and her husband were linked to a real-life murder in 1995.
The murder involved the death of an apparent African poacher who was shot dead when Owens, her then-husband, and step-son Chris were visiting Zambia on an elephant conservation trip.
Their conservation efforts were shown in the documentary Deadly Game: The Mark and Delia Owens Story, where Mark was reportedly seen encouraging people to shoot poachers who came into the park, as per ScreenRant.
The moment the presumed poacher was shot was caught on camera.
When the episode aired, the Zambian government opened a homicide investigation, which suggested that Owens' step-son had been the one to pull the trigger and kill the alleged poacher.
The entire family denied this, however.
The link to the book is that Kya was also accused of murder but was subsequently acquitted, while if Chris also killed the poacher (which should be noted has not been confirmed or proven), then he got away with it too.
Was the murder case in Zambia ever solved?
The case as never solved and, as of last year, Owens was still wanted for questioning, alongside her ex-husband and his son.
"There is no statute of limitations on murder in Zambia," the country's director of public prosecutions, Lillian Shawa-Siyuni, told The Atlantic. "They are all wanted for questioning in this case, including Delia Owens."
But Owens has long denied that she knows anything about the shooting.
She told the publication several years ago: "We don’t know anything about it. The only thing Mark ever did was throw firecrackers out of his plane, but just to scare poachers, not to hurt anyone."
She also alleged that Chris was not there on the night of the incident.
Where can I watch Where The Crawdads Sing?
Produced by Reese Witherspoon, the two hour-long film is currently streaming on Netflix.
Taking to Facebook page Netflix Bangers in recent days, one viewer urged people to read the book beforehand.
"I kindly would like to remind or warn everyone before they watching Where the Crawdads Sing to try to read the book first," the social media user suggested. "To be fair this movie is quite true to the story... but as it is always books first."
They went on to praise the film for being true to the book, saying that they 'love' it.
Others also raved about Where The Crawdads Sing and labelled it as a 'great movie'.
Topics: Netflix, True crime, Film and TV
Niamh Shackleton