Starred review from July 15, 2024
A fly-on-the-wall study of the infamous South Carolina attorney and murderer. Alex Murdaugh--which he pronounced "Ellick Murdick," in the local Scots-influenced dialect--was a bundle of complexities, writesWall Street Journal reporter Bauerlein, who also worked forThe State newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina. "He was fundamentally unreadable," she writes, "a walking mirage, always performing one role or another: devoted husband and father, connected friend, grantor of favors, defender of the downtrodden." He was also an addict who stole millions from his clients, funneling the money into drugs and alcohol as well as misguided investments. Murdaugh was an equal-opportunity grifter, and so powerful in the Lowcountry where he lived that everyone looked the other way until the fateful night on which he shot his wife and son to death. So it had been for generations of Murdaugh power in Hampton County, where, one lawyer quipped, "A jury trial is the mechanism for the redistribution of wealth." In his own jury trial, as Bauerlein reports after giving a blow-by-blow account of the grisly murders, Murdaugh sighed, "Oh, what a tangled web we weave." And weave he continues to do: Sentenced to two life terms, Murdaugh has established a new fiefdom behind bars: "He had left behind the ruins of one empire. Now he was building another." The cautionary lesson for readers is not that crime doesn't pay--in Murdaugh's case it did, and richly--but that eventually, even those who have gotten away with it for years receive their comeuppance. Though a latecomer in the Murdaugh sweepstakes--the first of at least three other books, John Glatt'sTangled Vines, appeared a year ago--Bauerlein's gracefully written, thoughtful treatment is by far the best. A memorable--and often chilling--account of tangled webs, addled minds, and the evil that men do.
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August 1, 2024
In 2019, a tragic boat accident in the South Carolina low country killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach. The ensuing fight for justice for Mallory would unearth a world of secrets, unleash a string of horrific violence, and tear down a generations-old tradition of abusing power. The crimes of fourth-generation South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh are now infamous. This book is a comprehensive journalistic account, nearly 500 pages of what happened and when throughout Murdaugh's convoluted downfall. Readers are given a sweeping account of the early Murdaugh lore and the family's staggering power within the justice system. Bauerlein's reporting is meticulously detailed and easy to follow, which is especially important as Murdaugh's story grows more and more complex, from the mysterious deaths of Stephen Smith and Gloria Satterfield to the boat crash to the 2021 murders of Alex's wife Maggie and their son Paul, all the way to the sensational trial that held a Murdaugh man accountable for the first time. With care and fortitude, Bauerlein's account continues to shine light on deception.
COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.