If you follow the national news, you have probably heard at least part of the story about the Murdaugh family. I was first introduced to them via a podcast about the youngest son's boat crash that killed a friend. But, this family is just insane. It isn't just about power in a small town, its about what happens when one family has more money that most of the people in a county combined. The area the Murdaughs lived in is mostly poor-below the poverty line. But, there is this law firm that makes millions on personal injury lawsuits. The families of this law firm are by far the most wealthy in the counties, but none quite as much as the Murdaughs.

The story is told in a linear timeline, which I appreciated because the news picked up the story pretty late in the game and things came out to the public out of order for sure. It also starts with the history of the family and the establishment of the law firm. You see what happens as a family begins to amass power and money. By the time it gets to the 4th generation, entitlement is a real problem. Alex (pronounced Alec) Murdaugh and his sons, especially the youngest, Paul, feel that they have the right to break the law and get away with just about anything. Alex starts with stealing, and his youngest son is just a terror, eventually developing such a bad alcohol and drug problem he causes the death of a friend during a drunken boating wreck. No one event seems to be enough to wake the Murdaughs up and they just keep doing horrible things.

If you like to see people get what they deserve, this is a story that certainly delivers. Unfortunately, the book ends before the murder trial, but a simple google search will give you the outcome of that. I would like to read a book about the actual trial and evidence.

Very clear and detailed description of the Murdaugh family, lately drawing fame in the criminal world. It's well written and so good that the reader keps reading, even all the while she might wonder just how important this story really is.
What makes a family rise to the top and plummet foolishly? As much as any outsider can figure, it's here. If it's your cup of tea, or you're curious after all the media attention, give it a read.

I am a big true crime fan and have been following this case for a while now. Having listened to podcasts and watching shows about the Murdaughs, I considered myself pretty familiar with the ins and outs, but this book was a great read in that it put all the details and timelines together to get a clear picture of the family.

I think the most informative part of the book was the beginning where he traces the backstory of the Murdaugh family and how they pretty much owned the legal system in Hampton County. Lots of deception, corruption and wrong doing for many many years.

In "Tangled Vines," John Glatt pieces together the real story of the Murdaugh family and the power they wielded over South Carolina for generations. This comprehensive history details each scam, power play, and use of political pressure that pushed the family forward, ultimately toward Alex Murdaugh's explosive final actions. I was familiar with the case as it progressed in the news, but Glatt's research unearthed new details for me that made everything make sense. Some parts of this story seemed a little boring or trivial, especially in the beginning, but I think it's necessary to know the family's history to understand their final fall from grace. This is a must-read for true crime fans!

Before this well researched and unflinching narrative by John Clatt (@Hove99) that details the history of the notorious Maurdaughs, I had never heard of them but when I began reading this book - I couldn’t keep it down. Set in the Low country region in South Carolina, we learn that three man named Randolph Mardaugh who served as a circuit solicitor (primary prosecutor) for three generations in the Hampton country in the State. There are several non fiction books that are upcoming and multiple documentaries on Netflix and HBO Max if you are interested to learn of the family’s dark history, but perhaps what stood out to me was how power and privilege transformed over generations.

While there was corruption that was embedded in each generation, the second Randy Mardaugh III’s theatrical style of bringing props to the trial and dramatizing the various crimes in front of the jury was perhaps one moment that stood out throughout which has not been covered in the aforementioned documentaries. Secondly, during his tenure in the 1970s, the brutal murder and sexual assault of Betty Gardener, a black woman who was picked up while hitchhiking and murdered in a racially motivated crime. In this rare occasion, two white men were sentenced to death for the murder of a black woman.

Things take turn for the worst when his grandson, Alex Mardaugh takes charge as the solicitor, and also fleeces tons of his clients in the PMPD law firm where he steals millions from his clients who are unaware of his criminal history. Moreover, his son, Paul was also a suspect in the death of his friend, Mallory who was killed in a boating accident. Perhaps, what I appreciated of Clatt’s narrative style was how power and corruption became more nefarious with each generation. If there is a non fiction that speaks to privilege today, it’s this book and one that shouldn’t be missed! The book is now available and was released on August 8th!

Thank you @stmartinespress for the gifted digital arc.

#TangledVines #JohnClatt #StMartinsPress #SMPGinfluencer

I saw the documentary and have followed the case, so none of what is in the books came as a surprise to me. It still makes my mind reel with how much some privileged people get away with: murder, intimidation. It’s crazy what you can do when you have money.

I followed the Murdaugh case when it was happening and was interested in reading this book to see if it had more insight. I was disappointed particularly so when the author goes so far as to get many details of the actual murder wrong! While I realize the event details are only speculative, what the author suggests was way off base to be non-sensical. The rest of the book lacks depth and research. I cannot say I would recommend it. Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy to read.

If you love true crime, I highly recommend John Glatt. The Murdaugh story has been in the news in the US for the last few years and it’s honestly a jaw dropping saga. This family has been so “tangled” up in small town South Carolina drama since the 19th century. The things they have gotten away with because of their name. John Glatt does his research for his books, obvious by the amount of detail included. His books are an auto-buy for me regardless of the subject.

This is a hard one to review. We all know the story but I didn’t know how deep it ran. My mind is still reeling from all the awful things the Murdaugh family got away with for generations. This was a fast paced intriguing story. Hard to put down.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy in exchange for an honest opinion. 3.5 ⭐️

I ended up getting the audio version of this book, which I enjoyed. I followed this story through the trial and was captivated by it. The book filled in some holes that the press left out. If you enjoy true crime, this book is for you.

I knew very little about this whole story going into this book, and while the book goes into great detail about a great many things, I am left with the feeling that I still know very little about this family and just HOW they got to be so influential, enough that they could literally kill people and have little to no worry about repercussions [until now]. What a bunch of entitled, snotty, obnoxious people; most of the story either had me rolling my eyes or yelling in frustration and while this is a good book filled with interesting history, it is also a very frustrating and often puzzling read [I feel that this was a bit rushed and could have been better if fleshed out more] - I have never been able to understand just what others see in people like this. I think that this is not the last that we have seen and heard about this family [in fact just this week, there was a news article about one of the key players], and I think that we will never know what truly happened and what the truth really is.

I was able to get an audiobook ARC for this and it was really helpful. I liked the narrator very much, though there were moments where he was almost over-excited or frantic in his telling of the story. He has a very good speaking voice though and really made the story flow and I appreciated that immensely. He didn't try to do voices of all the players [thankfully] and I am very grateful for that. I would absolutely listen to him again.

I was asked to read and review this book by the publishers [St. Martin's Press], and I thank them, John Glatt, Shaun Grindell - Narrator, RB Media, and NetGalley for both the ARC and the audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was an interesting read, not only because it was mostly true, but also because it seemed so outrageous. There are a few areas that do not agree with the information contained in the trial transcripts, but for the most part, it does not seem to matter that there are some inconsistencies because so much of the other is true. The Murdaugh Dynasty was a machine, chewing up and spitting out whoever had the gall to stand in the way of their wants. Thank goodness Murdaugh did not get away with the murders of his wife and son. While I enjoyed reading this book, I have sympathy for those who were subjected to the Murdaugh reign. Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the opportunity to review this ARC.

This edition is an ARC for which I am sharing my honest review. Relatively entertaining telling of the tale of unbelievable depravity. True crime is a difficult genre to write in but this books still needs some work The flow of the writing is negatively impacted but random topic jumps from one paragraph to the next. This is actually jarring on some occasions. Additionally, the author would have greatly helped the reader by adding a year when sharing dates, since he jumps back and forth at times. There is no conclusion in this version but it is widely known how the narcissistic sociopath (Alex) fares in end. What a path of destruction those family members left in their wake--not just Alex, who singlehandedly brought down his family name with help from his sons. Worthwhile read.

First of all, I am a huge fan of John Glatt and have enjoyed everything I have read from him. Second, as a true crime fan, I did follow the news reports and trial about the Murdaugh family. This book was interesting and well researched. It had a way of enthralling me in the story even with me knowing most of it already. I highly recommend reading this!

This story is so wild it reads like fiction. The author does a really good job of presenting all the facts and simultaneously making it an interesting experience. This family is absolutely chilling and ruthless.

this was one of my most anticipated true crime books this year and i have to say i wasn’t disappointed …. honestly i’ve already started reskimming it again and will def reread it …. this is a super complex and confusing case yet the author did and amazing job helping seperate out each sinister player and help you know which puzzle piece they were in this huge story …. i wondered if he would be able to humanize some of these deeply unlikeable people and he def did … can’t say they are much more likable but he def helped you see the big picture ….. seriously i think this story hasn’t been tackled by any other true crime writer because this is a hugely complicated and disturbed … entitled family …. and honestly aside from this author and one or two other veterans i don’t an author could do this story justice…… i have to say this author hit it out of the park… not only did he bit a home run .. he hit a grand slam! This book was in my top three true crime books by this particular author only reason it wasn’t my fav is because i don’t find the players in the story as likable whiich i know sounds crazy as they are “ real “ people … and that’s nothing that the author can really fix…..

John Glatt did a great job covering all the legal and behind the scenes of this case. I've listened to some podcasts, watched a documentary and read some articles, but I really appreciated all the court reports and other interviews with people that didn't make it mainstream. I also really liked that he went clear back to the beginning of the family line. You could see how each Murdaugh was like the ones before. Alex Murdaugh is just something else and the trouble he has created just blows my mind.

I love a good John Glatt book and this one didn’t disappoint! He can tell a true story so smoothly it reads like fiction. Truly entertaining in a odd sense of the word. Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for this copy in exchange for read and review

This one delved into the history of the Murdaugh family and how they became such a powerful Influence. What a shame they didn't use that power to help their community. The evil and entitlement ran deep and affected many. So much death and destruction was brought on by this man's actions. I hope the living victims are doing better now that he is removed from society.

Thank you St Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing a copy of this ARC. All opinions are my own.

ARCs are usually uncorrected and some have a few errors and this had some (not many) but they pulled me out of the story and I think it's because it's a nonfiction book. A couple of times it seemed the wrong name was used which normally isn't a big deal because you know who the characters are, but in this it was difficult to tell because 1) it was telling a story I was only vaguely aware of; 2) there were too many similar/same names in this family; and 3) there were so many people in this story. My other issue is that the timeline didn't have complete continuity. All of a sudden it's going along and then it jumps to another time period and then jumps back. And sometimes some of those paragraphs with the out of timeline information you would see again later and I swear they were copied and pasted word for word. So, I wasn't sure if it was an editing mistake, like moving to it's proper place in the timeline and the old entry wasn't deleted or they were repeating information I'd already read.

My review should be taken with a grain of salt because the items listed above may be corrected in the final book and I don't read nonfiction books so I don't know if the following part of my review is helpful or not. I felt like it was written like a diary of a researcher or almost reads like the author listed news story after news story which made it kind of boring at times except when the information made me angry at the outlandish and utter corruption in the Low Country. So, the book did evoke a reaction from me, but I didn't care for the way it unfolded. It's possible most nonfiction crime books are like that though, so this may not be helpful at all.