On Bella Mackie’s eighth birthday, her father, Alan Rusbridger, a previous Guardian newspaper editor-in-chief, gifted her a subscription to a true-crime periodical. This partwork series was delivered weekly and came complete with a complimentary binder. These publications contained deeply graphic details that fascinated the young girl. As she recollects the grizzly details, she chuckles and wonders what psychological impact such material would have on an eight-year-old.
One can speculate, as her childhood interest has evolved into a profession where she masterminds inventive and peculiar deaths for her fictional characters. In her recent release “What a Way to Go”, Bella has a deceptive financier, Anthony Wistern, meeting his end at his own celebration, impaled on an ornamental spike from his personal lake. In “How To Kill Your Family”, her debut in 2021, Grace Bernard causes fatality through choking in a lewd dungeon and hacking into a sauna’s controls to roast a lady.
Bella confesses that she enjoys the absurdity of these methods. In her younger years, she would envision the ideal ways to murder with her family; dismissing its perturbing implications by attributing this to the fact that she is inherently a coward and would never actually attempt murder.
Regarding her first novel, Bella had modest hopes. She was awarded a meagre advance and expected low sales. However, her aspirations were exceeded when her sharply witty and vengeful comedy sold over 1.26 million copies. Despite the appeal for a swift sequel from her readers, Bella was hesitant. It took her two years to write her follow-up, “What a Way to Go”. After penning a first draft of 130,000 words, she was gently advised by her editor and her collaborator that her work failed to meet their expectations. Juxtaposing two stories into one, it lacked humour, which led Bella to rewrite her book completely over a period of 10 to 11 months, spurred by pandemic-induced melancholy and apprehension.
The manuscript initially may not have sparked many laughs, but the book ultimately composed is, without a doubt, humorous. “What a Way to Go” is an engaging fusion of social status, fortune, and crime, starting with the demise of Anthony Wistern. With his death, his four self-centered, inheritance-hungry adult offspring quickly become suspected culprits, suspected to be responsible for their father’s untimely end. Their mother, Olivia, is also in question, as she was contemplating escaping the marriage before Anthony’s death, averting confessions and dealing with the consequences. Olivia maintains a frosty demeanor, possessing a sharp, dry humour akin to a perfectly mixed martini. Contemplating her husband, she concludes, “great men possess egos colossal as can be yet are sensitive as silk, a destructive mix you eventually learn at your expense.” Throughout her married life, Olivia has tolerated her husband’s constant infidelity, with his wealth offering the lavish lifestyle she craves. To quote Mackie, “It’s a rather interesting predicament, despising their life yet not wanting to forfeit any aspect of it.”
When creating this novel, the attention given to the uber-rich in current pop culture and entertainment piqued her curiosity. “Shows like Succession, Selling Sunset, and Made in Chelsea have been gaining a lot of views… We’re intrigued by their actions and the extent of horrendousness they exhibit in real life. The populace yearns to see the affluent face retribution, which doesn’t necessarily mean prison or widespread shame. Often, it manifests as social exclusion or bankruptcy.”
“What a Way to Go” is expressed from the perspectives of three characters – Olivia, Anthony post mortem, and a devoted true-crime enthusiast named Jade, labelled as “the Sleuth”. Following his death by impalement, Anthony finds himself in a processing centre, portrayed by Mackie as a blend of a cheap hotel and a bureaucratic minor government office – an intermediate station for the freshly deceased awaiting their final destination. Anthony’s transfer to his permanent destination is stalled until he fully recalls the exact cause and culprit of his death.
Regrettably, he was so intoxicated at the soirée he can’t remember a single detail. That’s left him confined in the South Gloucestershire Processing Centre, tasked with piecing things together. His existence now is a monotonous grind, which he utterly despises. His solitary joy is derived from watching, via a TV monitor, his wife and their four offspring squabble fiercely while attempting to utilise their inheritance to their advantage.
Mackie notes that he planned to use Anthony’s perspective, and the only feasible way was through the use of flashbacks or the creation of an alternate locale. He found humor in situating Anthony in an environment that’s totally alien to him, where his wealth holds no power and sweet words fall on deaf ears. Anthony is trapped, grappling with the tedium, ugliness, and dreadful setting. This situation allowed Mackie to narrate from Anthony’s point of view, while observing Anthony’s growing frustration, annoyance, and boredom. This writing process was particularly enjoyable for him, leading him to contemplate focusing an entire book on the South Gloucestershire Processing Centre.
Mackie clarifies his intention wasn’t moralising, yet he portrays his character as delusional. The book shows Mackie’s fascination with true crime through the character of Jade, a homegrown detective and conspiracy theorist. He uses Jade to highlight the insanity prevalent among many online detectives and her apprehension regarding the current trend to uncover the most horrific or distasteful details of a narrative. He says, “I’m intrigued by how true crime evolved from public executions to the cheap, sensational literature of the Victorian era, transitioning into binders, tabloids, and later documentaries. Now, we have individuals on platforms like TikTok formulating theories. Anyone with a phone can partake.”
Referring to the social media uproar last year when Nicola Bulley disappeared while dog walking in Lancashire and, most recently, British teenager Jay Slater’s unexplained disappearance in Tenerife in June, it disturbs her that many people were hesitant to believe the simplest solutions – accidents in both instances – were accurate. Instead, they were swayed by multiple dreadful speculations and openly labelled supposed culprits online, disregarding the aftermath for them and the families of the victims. Jade, a character in Mackie’s story comments on the thin line between civilisation and brutality exposed through crime documentaries.
The definition of true crime has blurred, causing potential risks. Mackie states her intention isn’t to sound moralistic, but points out that the character she developed is living in a fantasy. Whilst it’s understandable how the character sprouted, she’s essentially cherry-picking data and pursuing the thrill of internet validation. To increase views, she’s obligated to create more thrilling headlines. Truth can be overshadowed as long as the audience is entertained. According to Mackie, this represents the current state of many true crime stories, a situation she views distastefully.
As an adult, Mackie now recognises the strong relationship between her fascination with crime and heightened anxiety levels. She has obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) which causes her to repetitively dwell on things. At 29, her eight-month marriage ended, leading her into a deep depression which resulted in her barely being able to leave the house. It was during these challenging times that she discovered running, which she uses to manage her anxiety levels and has now become a part of her lifestyle.
In 2018, Mackie wedded Greg James, a presenter for BBC Radio 1, and she penned a memoir titled Jog On: How Running Saved My Life. The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on her OCD, causing her anxiety to escalate to a point where she couldn’t allow her body to rest. In 2020, Mackie ran a daily distance of between 11 and 14km for 365 consecutive days. Although she doesn’t jog daily anymore, running has become an irritable but highly valued ally, much like a long-term relationship with its ups and downs.
Mackie is currently engaged in creating her third piece of fiction, aspiring that it will be a “calm and straightforward” writing experience in contrast to her previous undertaking, What a Way to Go. The followers will find joy in the fact that it will also showcase characters that are a blend of deplorable and appealing. She openly confesses, and with a hint of amusement, “I’m not certain why, but it is something I keep aiming for.” Bella Mackie’s, What a Way to Go is brought to you by the Borough Press.