My Ghost Has a Name: Memoir of a Murder

by Rosalyn Rossignol

This memoir about a friend’s murder—and the mystery surrounding her daughter’s role in it—is “a true-crime work that digs deeper” (Foreword Reviews). On October 20, 1999, thirty-eight-year-old Nell Crowley Davis was bludgeoned, strangled, and stabbed to death in her backyard in Bluffton, South Carolina, near Hilton Head Island. In this blend of true crime and memoir, Rosalyn Rossignol tells the story of how Davis’s sixteen-year-old daughter, Sarah Nickel, along with two teenage boys, came to be charged in the case. Since no physical evidence tied Nickel to the murder, she was convicted of armed robbery and given the same sentence as the boys—thirty years. In the months that followed, Nickel vehemently insisted she was innocent. Torn by Nickel’s pleas, Rossignol, a childhood friend of the murder victim, committed herself to answering the question that perhaps the police detectives, press, and courts had whether Sarah Nickel was indeed guilty of this crime. During five years of research, Rossignol read case files and transcripts, examined evidence from the crime scene, listened to the 911 call, and watched videotaped statements made by the accused in the hours following their arrests. She also interviewed family members, detectives, the lawyer who prosecuted the case and those who represented the defendants, and the judge who presided over the trial—as well as Nickel herself. What Rossignol uncovers is a fascinating maze of twists and turns, replete with a memorable cast of characters including a shotgun-toting grandma, a self-avowed nihilist and Satan-worshipper, and a former Rice Queen of Savannah, Georgia. Unlike all previous investigators, Rossignol has uncovered the truth about what happened, and the reasons why, on that fateful October day.

Genres: True Crime, Memoir, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir

271 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 30, 2017

Reviews

[Jill Meyer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rossalyn Rossignol has written a combined true crime/personal memoir, "My Ghost Has a Name: Memoir of a Murder". The victim, Nell, was an old, childhood friend who was murdered by two friends of her teenage daughter. Why had she been murdered and what did her daughter, Sarah, have to do with the actual murder. Rossignol decided to investigate the murder, the killers, and the people who had been important in Nell's life. And one of those people was Rossalyn Rossignol.

It's not easy to mix a murder case with a memoir, even if you know the victim. Rossignol looks at the connections between Nell's early life and the later, fatal part. Twice married, Nell was a physical therapist who had three children. While she got along well with her younger two, her older daughter Sarah presented typical teenage problems. Like many mothers and daughters, they had periods when they didn't get along. Sarah dabbled in drugs and had some questionable friends. One of them - along with another friend - bashed in Sarah's mother's head. After the murder, the two young men were tried and sentenced to 30 years in prison. In another trial, Sarah was convicted of what should have been a lesser crime but was given the same prison term as the men. But, was Sarah as complicit as the killers? Rossignol looks at the backgrounds of the two young men and how they came to murder Nell in cold blood.

"My Ghost has a Name" is an adequately written book. Rossignol has tried to do something that is very difficult to do even by a longtime writer of non-fiction. She's tried to add her own story to that of the victim. Even though the Rossalyn and Nell had been friends until they left for college, they had lost touch as both had married and had children of their own. She's given us tantalising bits about her own life, but doesn't follow up. For instance, she writes that she had a hard relationship with her own mother and then mentions she was adopted. I'd like to have known more about that, but she didn't follow up. She also writes that at least one of the killers was adopted, too. That would have been an interesting point to write about, but she just lets it peter out. Much of the book is like that.

[Lexi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m confused by the negative reviews on this book. In fact, I rarely can formulate my feelings on books enough to make them concise enough for a review, but thought I should try (so forgive me if this is terrible and all over the place) -

There were times the information felt repetitive, but I believe that’s due to the nature of the many different narratives the author had to decipher during her research. In my opinion, given the overwhelming nature of intertwining a memoir with a true crime narrative, the author balanced it well without throwing the reader back and forth too much.

Overall, this was emotionally hard to read at times, and drew up a lot of questions on morality and intentions - many that are unanswerable. That said, I’m very glad I’ve read it and appreciate the author’s act of writing such a revealing piece of work.

[Bill reilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author of this book was a childhood friend of the victim. Nell Crowley Davis was brutally murdered by acquaintances of her sixteen-year-old daughter, Sarah Nickel. The teenager was convicted mostly on the basis of a diary entry wishing for the killing of dear old mom.
Sarah was a party girl who wrote of a marijuana, cocaine and crack habit, in addition to a string of sex partners. The bipolar teen cut herself repeatedly and complained to classmates about her mother.
Two fellow losers were recruited by Ms. Nickel to rob Nell and remove her from the scene. A baseball bat and knife were the tools of death and all three are deservedly wards of the state of South Carolina.
A reference to this case in a book on Alex Murdaugh led me here as Randolph Murdaugh prosecuted all three defendants. Twenty-four years after the Davis murder, Randolph's son Alex would be convicted of murder and be sent to prison.
My Ghost has a Name is well researched and a very good read.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tragic murder and a nuanced approach to telling the story of the three people responsible. I felt that the author was close enough, yet far enough removed to the victims and perpetrators to tell this story without prejudice.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed the way this book was written. I liked reading about how she conducted her research for the book. I liked that she included her thought process as she wrote the book and came to her conclusion on whether or not Sarah was guilty.

[Terri White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very Good Read!

I loved the way this book was written from start to finish! It was a terrible event that happened but going into the backgrounds of these kids was riveting. I found myself caught up in all the emotions, from start to finish and could see exactly how something like this could happen. I think if you've ever been a teenager, especially one who was doing drugs, you have hated your Mother at one time or another and probably said it too! Most grow out of it, but in this case it went too far. This was a perfect storm that became a nightmare in a few seconds. Very well written, especially by someone who knew the victim very well. Great story and I feel the author is a very brave person to have put their own emotions on the line, because I'm sure it was extremely difficult to follow through with her investigation, talk to so many of the people involved and write about her own emotions as well as theirs. Great job!!

[Rosalie Haas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Guilty

The book was well written, but I cannot agree with the author that Sarah is redeemable. She spent years hating her mother and made plans for her death. She was, is, and always will be manipulative in order to get what she wants. She was directly responsible for her mother's killing, and the jury got it wrong. There is no justice as she gets out early from her so-called "straight" 30 years.

[Marilene Yoakim · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting but too long

I would have preferred to concentrate on the murder and the psychological reasons the murder was committed than going through the author ‘s journey of discovery of who really did it and why. There were too many details that had nothing to do with the case, repetitions and a disjointed story . I seemed to be reading the same evidence over and over again.Obviously the three tens were all guilty. Having to read a whole book to prove it, was too long…

[E. Spelko · Rating 1 out of 5]

Self Absorbed

The author is irrationally obsessed with a woman she to know, and the woman’s daughter. Her writing style is repetitive, and comes off as passive aggressive when she uses southern slang.

[Denise Heins · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75. I was intrigued with this book because the murder happened where I live. There are so many lies and twists in this book, it seems impossible to keep it all straight, hence the lower rating.