Publication Date August 8, 2023

I’m not sure how or when I first heard about the “Murdaugh mystery,” but my guilty pleasure in both reading and podcasts is true crime, so I fell into it and got deep into the various crimes, scandals, and trials, If you have been asleep for the past couple of years, here is the basic outline: in the Low Country of South Carolina, many decades ago, the Murdaugh family began the law firm that would rule the area right up until about 2021. They were incredibly wealthy and powerful both socially and politically.

In 2021, Alex Murdaugh, the current patriarch of the family (generally called “Alec” or “Ellick” – go figure) found (ahem) the bodies of his wife and younger son just outside the kennels at their hunting lodge. Both were dead from gunshot wounds. Two different guns—more than one shooter? A few months later, Alex called 911 from the side of a road, saying he’d been shot in the head. WTF?

Then there were the earlier tragedies. Younger son Paul was in legal jeopardy (despite the efforts of Daddy and Granddaddy) after he had been driving a boat drunk and ran it into the side of a river bridge, killing a young woman named Mallory Beach. The police treated him like the local prince he was, Was this a cover-up? (Duh). The whole law enforcement response the night of the crash was a mess: “…dispatchers gave out the wrong location fourteen times to various emergency services, wasting valuable time to save Mallory Beach.”

Then there was the housekeeper who died falling down the steps of the house at the hunting lodge. She “fell over the dogs,” although that was a little suspicious. Then there was Stephen Smith, the young man who may or may not have been in a relationship with older son Buster. This death was ruled a hit and run, although it was suspected to be a homicide, it was never investigated as one. Ruled a hit and run? Why? “…she stated it was .a hit and run because he was found in the road.”

Then the money and drugs became hot news. Alex had blatantly embezzled and downright stolen millions of dollars. Alex said he was an addict…but the more likely story seems to be the family was just evil, and their lavish lifestyle had been funded for years by an elaborate drug trafficking and money laundering scheme.

Following s bizarre trial, Alex is now in prison for the murders of his wife and son. The deaths of Stephen Smith and the housekeeper don’t seem to have been finally resolved, but tons of money has been generated for the local economy via crime tourism, podcasts, etc. This book is not the only one that will come out of this mess, but it will be hard for others to top the storytelling by John Glatt (a prolific and well-known author of true crime books). Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing a copy of Tangled Vines (a shocking and extremely entertaining and informative book) in exchange for my honest review. I thought I knew a lot about this story before I read the book, but wow did I learn a lot. Five stars.