The Goleta Connection to ‘The Devil You Know’

Ever thought you’d feel compassion for child molesters? Or cheer for a mother to succeed on her third baby after intentionally injuring her first two? Or blame dysfunctional societal systems for breeding serial killers?

Prepare for these reactions and more when reading The Devil You Know: Stories of Human Cruelty and Compassion, a journey through the case files and fascinating life of Dr. Gwen Adshead, a forensic psychiatrist famous in England. To translate what she’s learned over the course of her career into an engaging book appropriate for a general audience, Adshead teamed up with her friend, writer Eileen Horne, who was raised in Goleta; built her professional life as a TV producer, radio dramatist, and nonfiction author in London; and now lives across the cul-de-sac from me in her late father’s home. 

“Gwen has always been my most interesting friend,” Horne told me a few weeks ago over tea and coffee in her living room, explaining that she’s suggested that Adshead tell her stories to a wider audience for years. “No offense to all of my other friends​— ​and even though my brother is an astrophysicist and my daughter is a political speech writer, she always took the cake!”