Published April, 2024
Might as well start out with a confession: I received the audiobook (thank you, Spotify Audiobooks — who knew this was a thing? Not I) and I liked the narrator very much but I just could not stay awake! So I bought the book, and my review is based on reading that. OK, more confessing! I am somewhat of a true crime fanatic, and a geographical bigot. I read and listen to books and podcasts about lots of true crime, and I pretty much think the southeastern quadrant of the country is just terrible. But damn, there sure is a lot of good crime reporting in and from that area!
In recent years, much of the most astonishing series of crimes and reporting has revolved around the Murdaugh Murders. If you haven’t followed this story and you dive into this book, better buckle up because it is way more shocking than can easily be understood. The younger son and wife of the famous, “high-flying, smooth-talking, pedigreed Southern lawyer, Alex Murdaugh” ** were found murdered on the family compound in the South Carolina LowCountry, with the 911 call reporting the discovery of their bodies made by Alex. Since then, an almost unbelievable list of crimes (over 100) have been attributed to him, and he has been convicted and sent to prison. As the stories unfolded, they kept getting more and more shocking, and revealed that he was not only guilty of two murders, he had also been a drug trafficker, thief, con man, and just a despicable human being (not a crime in itself, but OMG Alex is disgusting.
I thought the book was primarily focused on Alex and the crimes in the recent decade or so, but the first part (more than 2/3) is an exhaustive telling of several generations of Murdaughs…with several named Buster. No, seriously. Subtitled “The Story of the Murdaugh Family of South Carolina & A Century of Backwoods Power”, reading this book I learned more than I ever wanted to about multiple lawyers named Murdaugh. I was a bit overwhelmed by it all, but it helped me try to understand how Alex and his sons (especially Paul, the young murder victim) came to be so arrogant and stunningly cruel and just disgusting people. Alex Murdaugh is now disbarred, disgraced, and locked away. Prosecutors showed that Alex was crazed by the scandal that was about to be revealed and his final desperate bid to escape accountability led him to kill his wife and son.
There were a ton of headlines associated with Alex Murdaugh’s crimes, but the author’s incredibly deep research shows how similar incidents have occurred in his family’s past, including “fraud, theft, illicit trafficking of babies and booze, calamitous boat crashes, and even alleged murder.”**
The book goes deeply into the generations of Murdaughs, showing how their generations of lawyers lorded it over the people in the impoverished and isolated part of the Deep South where they lived. Again, I had expected more of a story about the fairly recent crimes, but this is a deep dive into the whole Murdaugh family and their extensive criminal undertakings. My only real complaint about the book is the difficulty I had due to the jumping around in time over and over, only to have to stop and think “OK, which generation is this, and which Buster?” It is compelling storytelling, and excellent reporting. I also like that it even touched on the various pronunciations of the names (it has been at times confusing in various podcasts and news reports to hear Alex, Alec, Ellick, and Murdaugh, Murdock – you get the idea.)
For true crime fans, as well as people who think rich white folks in the South can do no wrong. Warning: you will likely feel like you need a shower after this one! But really well done—it’s not the author’s fault this clan is so horrible. Four stars. (NOTE: Quotes** above are from the publisher’s blurbs).