Dance with the Devil cover

Dance with the Devil

by Dave Bagby

On November 2001, the body of a young doctor named Andrew Bagby was discovered in Keystone State Park outside Latrobe, Pennsylvania, by a homeless man searching dumpsters for aluminum cans. The alleged murderer was his ex-girlfriend Shirley Turner---also a doctor. For parents Dave and Kate, the pain was unbearable. Little did they know, however, that the worst was far from over. Shirley Turner---knowing charges would be laid against her---fled to her family home in Newfoundland. While fending off extradition efforts by U.S. law enforcement, she discovered she was pregnant with Andrew's son, Zachary. The Bagbys---hoping to gain custody of Zachary, frustrated beyond endurance as the legal process dragged on interminably, and unable to make any headway with Canadian social services---moved from their home in California and settled in Newfoundland. In august 2003, Shirley Turner murdered thirteen-month-old Zachary and then herself. Dance with the Devil is an angry, raw, and brutally honest memoir of murder and loss. It is an eye-popping and frankly terrifying indictment of the Canadian judicial and social welfare system that failed the Bagbys in nearly every way.

Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?