I received a free digital ARC from the publicist/marketing team via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Rating | ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I don't usually pay much attention to current big crime type stories. I only heard of this one because my favorite singer talked about watching a documentary on it, a couple years ago.
I can't think of a better motto for this family than "absolute power corrupts absolutely".
The author does a phenomenal job tracing the family lineage, and it is clear from the start that they are, in fact, corrupted with power. We see the family rise from humble beginnings and grow into a dynasty, with the first three Randolph Murdaughs serving as the solicitor for the 14th circuit for a total of 87 years. To say the family controlled their little kingdom is an understatement.
Yet it is not because of their stranglehold on the Lowcountry that we know of them. Nor is it because of the 100 year-old family law practice that made them millionaires. Instead, it is because of the most recent patriarch's conviction for murdering his wife Maggie and son Paul that we know the secrets this family would have preferred to keep hidden.
Those secrets include two other deaths, which can be classified as homicides based on the evidence provided. There's Gloria Satterfield, the family's long time housekeeper, who practically raised Buster and Paul. She fell down the stairs at one of the family homes and died. There is the question, however, of how she fell, or if she was pushed. Alex told her sons he would take care of them, the family would take care of them, they would "sue" him to be able to get money to survive. Instead, all that money went to Alex and Gloria's sons not only lost their mother, but also a chance for financial help in the wake of her death.
Stephen Smith's death is also quite questionable, given the location of his car vs. his body on a rural road late at night. It was classified as a hit and run, despite there being literally no evidence to support this conclusion. Smith had been a classmate of Buster's and there were rumors of a relationship, of Buster possibly being gay, etc. The Murdaugh family did what they do best and hid any possible connections. Smith's case was re-opened after Alex's arrest, and investigators stated that information they uncovered during their investigation of the disgraced former lawyer led to them doing so.
Then there's also the case of the death of Mallory Beach, who was killed in a boating accident the night she and some friends were on the Murdaugh's boat, with a highly intoxicated Paul at the helm. It was no secret to anyone about how awful Paul was when he was drunk. He'd pick fights, hit his girlfriend, was basically an all around trash bag of a person, and refused to let anyone else drive his boat. The accident left several of the teens injured, and Mallory missing. Yet Paul somehow escaped any kid of consequences for the the death he caused and it was clear to all that the Murdaugh's really could get away with anything.
And as if murdering his wife and son wasn't enough, the crimes he'd committed for years in the lead-up to those murders would've been enough to put Alex Murdaugh away for a long time. It turns out he'd been embezzelling from his clients, millions of dollars over who knows how many years. Within all that, there are the many years of drug addiction, which Alex needed the money for, as well as to continue supporting the life that he and his family had always been accumstomed to living.
For decades the Murdaugh family was untouchable. Outwardly the family was a pillar of strength for the community, upholding law and order. Yet underneath the shiny veneer were layers of protection by those they paid off in order to keep their influence spreading far and wide over their domain. Just when think they could not possibly get away with one more thing, they do. Easily. It's truly gross just how much this one family had for a century. And even though Alex never became solicitor like his father, grandfather, and great grandfather, he did volunteer part time in the solicitor's office. He could hide his money laundering, embezzelling, and drug use behind his family name, because who would belive that the Murdaughs were not as upstanding as they appeared?
June 7th, 2021 triggered the beginning of the end. Alex discovered the bodies of Maggie and Paul at one of their homes and he naturally assumed once again that his word about what happened would be accepted as the gospel truth, and he'd be able to continue doing what he'd always done.
Not this time.
Instead, investigators did their jobs for once where the Murdaughs were involved.
As a result, the Murdaugh dynasty came to an inglorious end when Alex was found guilty of Maggie and Paul's murders, though far to late for their many, many victims over the years.
I think it was crucial for the author to include a detailed background of the family from the beginning. Men like Alex Murdaugh are made, not born. The wealth and privilege available to those that came before him set Alex up to be the entitled monster he became. This does not absolve him from anything. He could have chosen to not be a shitty human being. He could have chosen to give money to his clients that they won, he could have chosen to not cover for Paul with Mallory's death, he could have chosen to NOT murder his wife and son. But the environment in which he was raised made it seem as though he was entitled to whatever he wanted.
Even if you've seen documenteries about the family, I would still recommend the book. I feel like the author had much more time and opportunity to really delve into the family history, which is critical to the story as a whole.
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