What do you think?
Rate this book
The Devil in My Friend: The Inside Story of a Malibu Murder
If you liked The Stranger Beside Me, this book is for you. Follow Ivor and Sally Davis through their investigation into their longtime friend and neighbor when he is arrested for the murder of his wife and stepson.
Ivor and Sally Davis were horrified when their neighbors, Verna Roehler and her son, Doug died in a terrible boating accident. The nightmare only continued when her husband, their friend, Fred Roehler, was arrested and then convicted for their murder. As investigative writers they set out hoping to find Roehler innocent—instead they found a viper’s nest of deceit and murder.
Ivor and Sally Davis were horrified when their neighbors, Verna Roehler and her son, Doug died in a terrible boating accident. The nightmare only continued when her husband, their friend, Fred Roehler, was arrested and then convicted for their murder. As investigative writers they set out hoping to find Roehler innocent—instead they found a viper’s nest of deceit and murder.
- GenresTrue Crime
302 pages, Hardcover
Published May 7, 2024
3 people are currently reading
55 people want to read
About the author
Ivor Davis
12 books12 followersIn the summer of 1964, the Beatles embarked on a record-breaking pandemonium-inducing tour of America and Canada. The Beatles and Me on Tour presents the first chronicle of that tour told by an insider: author/journalist Ivor Davis, then a young British reporter for the London Daily Express. Ivor was the only British newspaper writer invited on the entire tour.
Through thirty-four days and twenty-four cities, Davis traveled with the Beatles watching them make rock history. He enjoyed unrestricted access to the four boys fresh from Liverpool—from their hotel suites to backstage at concert arenas to their private jet. He fended off excited girls, and their insistent mothers, attempts to hook up with the band. Ivor played all night games of Monopoly with John Lennon, became the ghostwriter of a newspaper column for George Harrison, and witnessed the night Bob Dylan “deflowered” the young marijuana virgins.
London-born Ivor Davis first came to America in the early sixties and was appointed West Coast correspondent for the 4-million-a-day circulation London Daily Express in l963.
Over more than four decades as a writer for the Daily Express and the Times of London, Ivor covered major events in North America. He penned a weekly entertainment column for the New York Times Syndicate for over 15 years, interviewing some of the biggest names in show business, from Cary Grant to Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton to Tom Cruise and Muhammad Ali.
In 1962 he was smuggled onto the campus of the riot-torn University of Mississippi when James Meredith was enrolled and three years later was in the front lines as Los Angeles’ Watts riots erupted.
Ivor covered Robert Kennedy’s 1968 presidential bid and was in the Ambassador Hotel the night Kennedy was assassinated. He was one of the Boys on the Bus chronicling the life of actor-turned-politician Ronald Reagan, first in his campaign for governor of California, then for president.
He was a co-author of the l969 political book Divided They Stand, which chronicled the Presidential election; and witnessed some of the biggest trials in American history: Sirhan Sirhan, convicted of killing Bobby Kennedy in 1969; black-power militant Angela Davis, acquitted of murder in l972; a year later, Daniel Ellsberg’s trial for leaking the Pentagon Papers, and, in 1976, he was in San Francisco to see heiress Patty Hearst convicted of robbery after being kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army.
In l969 he co-wrote Five to Die, the first book ever published about the Sharon Tate murders. (The book was updated in 2011.) As a foreign correspondent, he traveled throughout the western hemisphere covering riots, floods, earthquakes and politics. As Editor at Large for Los Angeles Magazine, he and his late wife Sally Ogle Davis wrote over 100 major magazine and cover stories. He has reported on four World Soccer Cups for CBS radio.
He currently lives in Southern California and is working on two new books: one about movies the other a true crime story.
Through thirty-four days and twenty-four cities, Davis traveled with the Beatles watching them make rock history. He enjoyed unrestricted access to the four boys fresh from Liverpool—from their hotel suites to backstage at concert arenas to their private jet. He fended off excited girls, and their insistent mothers, attempts to hook up with the band. Ivor played all night games of Monopoly with John Lennon, became the ghostwriter of a newspaper column for George Harrison, and witnessed the night Bob Dylan “deflowered” the young marijuana virgins.
London-born Ivor Davis first came to America in the early sixties and was appointed West Coast correspondent for the 4-million-a-day circulation London Daily Express in l963.
Over more than four decades as a writer for the Daily Express and the Times of London, Ivor covered major events in North America. He penned a weekly entertainment column for the New York Times Syndicate for over 15 years, interviewing some of the biggest names in show business, from Cary Grant to Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton to Tom Cruise and Muhammad Ali.
In 1962 he was smuggled onto the campus of the riot-torn University of Mississippi when James Meredith was enrolled and three years later was in the front lines as Los Angeles’ Watts riots erupted.
Ivor covered Robert Kennedy’s 1968 presidential bid and was in the Ambassador Hotel the night Kennedy was assassinated. He was one of the Boys on the Bus chronicling the life of actor-turned-politician Ronald Reagan, first in his campaign for governor of California, then for president.
He was a co-author of the l969 political book Divided They Stand, which chronicled the Presidential election; and witnessed some of the biggest trials in American history: Sirhan Sirhan, convicted of killing Bobby Kennedy in 1969; black-power militant Angela Davis, acquitted of murder in l972; a year later, Daniel Ellsberg’s trial for leaking the Pentagon Papers, and, in 1976, he was in San Francisco to see heiress Patty Hearst convicted of robbery after being kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army.
In l969 he co-wrote Five to Die, the first book ever published about the Sharon Tate murders. (The book was updated in 2011.) As a foreign correspondent, he traveled throughout the western hemisphere covering riots, floods, earthquakes and politics. As Editor at Large for Los Angeles Magazine, he and his late wife Sally Ogle Davis wrote over 100 major magazine and cover stories. He has reported on four World Soccer Cups for CBS radio.
He currently lives in Southern California and is working on two new books: one about movies the other a true crime story.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 18, 2024
A very well written book about a very tragic event, the murder of Verna Roehler and her young son, Douglas by Verna's second husband Fred Roehler. It was easy for the reader to see what a despicable person Fred Roehler was, yet he was handsome and charming so he was able to get away with his first wives murder for insurance money so he was sure he would get away with murder again.
May 26, 2024
This was a really interesting read. First, I could NOT believe that at the beginning, no one thought that this man might be guilty. It was almost the perfect crime. He spent decades working on perfecting the image that he wanted to show to the world, and nothing was going to threaten that image.
Fred Roehler is the chameleon that everyone dreads. That one person who feels he cannot do anything wrong, and anything is explainable away. When his wife and step-son die in a tragic boating accident, it at first seemed just that, an accident. It was not. It was cold blooded murder that was hiding under the guise of an accident. When neighbors Ivor and Sally David set out to prove that he was innocent of any wrongdoing, they found something else. Instead of their close friend and neighbor that was so easy going, they found a web of deceit that ran so deep, it would take a lot of time to untangle the man they thought they knew.
Interesting read, and a great true crime. Horrifying in many aspects, but a good overall book.
Fred Roehler is the chameleon that everyone dreads. That one person who feels he cannot do anything wrong, and anything is explainable away. When his wife and step-son die in a tragic boating accident, it at first seemed just that, an accident. It was not. It was cold blooded murder that was hiding under the guise of an accident. When neighbors Ivor and Sally David set out to prove that he was innocent of any wrongdoing, they found something else. Instead of their close friend and neighbor that was so easy going, they found a web of deceit that ran so deep, it would take a lot of time to untangle the man they thought they knew.
Interesting read, and a great true crime. Horrifying in many aspects, but a good overall book.
May 7, 2024
The true account of Sally and Ivor Davis's friend and neighbour whose affable exterior hid a conniving and cruel murderer. The book tracks the life of Fred Roehler, from his early years with a family who weren't afraid to bend the rules of society for financial gain, to the deaths of two wives and a stepson. When he is arrested for suspected murder, investigative journalists Sally and Ivor believe he is innocent and gather information to prove it. However, as time goes on and more information comes to light, they are shocked to find that Roehler wasn't the person they thought him to be.
Highly readable, I would strongly recommend this riveting story.
Highly readable, I would strongly recommend this riveting story.
May 13, 2024
Though I knew nothing about this case and true crime is not my favorite genre, I found this book very interesting and fascinating and had a hard time putting it down. In the end, all I can say is WOW! Great research and attention to details to discover sometimes people aren’t who you think they are! I recommend reading this for yourself.
May 12, 2024
Thank you NetGalley and Rowman & Littlefield for this ARC!
I knew very little about the case, but given the in depth research of Fred’s background - wow
Impunity. Altruism. Psychopath. Fraud.
I can see this novel as if it was an adaption of American Crime Story.
Well done. Easy to follow
I knew very little about the case, but given the in depth research of Fred’s background - wow
Impunity. Altruism. Psychopath. Fraud.
I can see this novel as if it was an adaption of American Crime Story.
Well done. Easy to follow
March 5, 2025
Terrific true crime novel written from the perspective of neighbors whom initially fully supported the perpetrator of the crime. The journey of uncovering the mountain of evidence of evil while writing this work brought the writers around while letting the readers see the truth. Well done!!
March 7, 2025
Riveting! Never wanted to put it down. Even when I had to, this book stayed in my thoughts.
My husband mentioned wanting to look into life insurance for us, and I cringed. At least I know he’s never been married before, and he’s never committed insurance fraud.
My husband mentioned wanting to look into life insurance for us, and I cringed. At least I know he’s never been married before, and he’s never committed insurance fraud.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews