First published 2024
Alex Murdaugh ruled South Carolina's Lowcountry like a king. As president of the trial lawyers' association and partner in his family's century-old law firm, he wielded the Murdaugh name with absolute authority across 100 miles of marshland and backroads. Politicians sought his favor. Lawyers feared his influence. Friends flocked to Moselle, his 1,700-acre hunting preserve where bourbon flowed and deals were struck in whispered conversations. On a humid summer night, Alex walked onto his estate and shot his wife Maggie and son Paul dead. The murders shattered a dynasty built on secrets, cover-ups, and calculated violence stretching back generations. His ancestors had buried scandals involving midnight suicides, courthouse bootlegging operations, and attempted murder. Alex believed he could walk away clean from his own crimes, but fate intervened through small mistakes and one old friend's betrayal. Wall Street Journal reporter Valerie Bauerlein followed every twist from courthouse to crime scene, walking behind jurors as they retraced the victims' final moments. She uncovers why a man with everything would destroy his own family and how a century of Murdaugh power finally crumbled in a trial that captivated millions.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, mystery, crime, thriller, 21st-century
Vibes: dark, emotional, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: corruption, cover-up, downfall-of-a-dynasty
Setting: Lowcountry, Moselle, South Carolina
Period: 21st Century
480 pages · Hardcover · Ballantine Books
Content warnings: death, murder, violence