Book about Reena Virk murder wins $25,000 award

Rebecca Godfrey, who wrote a book about the high-profile murder of Saanich teenager Reena Virk in 1997 is the winner of the second annual B.C. Award for Canadian Non-Fiction.

Under The Bridge by the Victoria-based Godfrey reconstructs the circumstances surrounding the murder of 14-year-old Virk by other teens, as well as the subsequent trials and their aftermath.

The book was described by the judges as both "a compelling murder mystery and a larger portrait of a very contemporary Canadian society."

The judges also lauded, "Godfrey's depiction of teenage sentiment, as disturbing as it is compassionate."

• INDEPTH: The murder of Reena Virk: A timeline

The B.C. Award for Canadian Non-Fiction comes with a $25,000 cash prize, which was given to Godfrey on Friday by Premier Gordon Campbell.

The other three finalists for this year's award were J.B. MacKinnon for Dead Man in Paradise, John Terpstra for The Boys, or Waiting for the Electrician's Daughter and John Vaillant for The Golden Spruce.

The award is one of three developed by the B.C. Achievement Foundation from a $6-million provincial endowment. The others are the B.C. Community Achievement Awards and the B.C. Creative Achievement Awards.