Like many, I found myself following the Murdaugh court trial. There is so much to the Murdaugh dynasty that I was halfway through this book and I wasn't sure what else there was to talk about, there were events that I had completely forgotten about just due to the sheer number.

I found the first quarter of this book to be a little confusing as it goes back and forth in time. The author is trying to establish a history of the family, which is helpful except that many of the names repeat throughout different generations, making it difficult to keep track of who is who, and where in time we always were. I think this would be an interesting read for anyone who follows true crime story.

Love how the author gave factual information. The author puts you into the storyline and at the scenes making it more real. I found myself looking up the characters just to find more information and their pictures.

The Devil at His Elbow: Alex Murdaugh and the Fall of a Southern Dynasty – Valerie Bauerlein – 2024 –
This stunning True Crime narrative covers the chilling and disturbing pathology of Alex Murdaugh (1968-), a Hampton County S.C. disbarred attorney, who was found guilty on all counts of the murders of his wife Maggie and adult Son Paul on March 2nd 2023. In a trial that lasted for six weeks, a South Carolina jury deliberated for less than three hours before reaching a verdict.

A bedrock of Southern society is the Southern gentleman, an honest, truthful, and highly ethical man, a lawful upstanding citizen, and protector of his family. Alex Murdaugh was none of these things. By the time his true evil character was exposed to a shocked community and nation, Murdaugh was connected to three unsolved mysterious deaths, and of defrauding poor vulnerable clients and insurance companies of millions of dollars. He laundered money through unsuspecting local banks and his family law firm. After Alex attempted to fake his own death, he admitted to an addiction to hard drugs, from which he blamed his horrific acts and behaviors.

As Bauerlein carefully traced the Murdaugh family history, readers learned that Alex Murdaugh came from ancestors linked to secrecy, scandals, deceit, and debauchery. Randolf Murdaugh Sr. (1887-1940) established his family law firm among the Cypress and Pine trees in Hampton County, N.C. The region had never recovered from the Civil War, but the Southern low country justice system suited his ethos: “To rise above the law, you must become the law.” His orchestrated death netted the Murdaugh’s a large settlement from the Railroad. Randolf “Buster” Murdaugh Jr. (1915-1998) a desperate, “brash, loud, and theatrical” man hid a double life running the largest bootleg ring in S.C. Randolf Murdaugh III (1939-2021) was a “reasonable man,” less concerned about money, and solicitor of the 14th Circuit and senior partner in the family law firm. He lived long enough to see his seriously troubled son and grandson engulfed in willful lawlessness that ruined the family name and brought down the Murdaugh dynasty.

Valerie Bauerlein studied English and French and earned a BA from Duke University, she has written about Southern culture, social and economic justice for significant publications, and is a reporter for the Wall Street Journal and Penguin Random House. “The Devil at His Elbow:” is her first book. With thanks to NetGalley for the ARC for the purpose of review.

I received this as a digital galley from NetGalley.

I can't stop reading about this case?! It's just so confounding. This was one of the better written and researched projects on the case.

I just couldn't get into this one. I tried it as the physical copy and an audiobook and it was just too slow moving for me. I typically love true crime, but this one just didn't do it for me.

The Devil At His Elbow, follows the dark descent of Alex Murdaugh. We learn about the case and murder of Alex’s wife Maggie and son Paul. This story was new to me and I loved seeing beyond the immediate story. The corruption behind the Murdaugh boys.

This story is told from the viewpoint of the courtroom and the backstory (investigational reporter) viewpoint. This story had great pace and had me on the edge of my seat. This book was heavily fact based with a great storyline. Alex is a liar and manipulative hiding behind his mask.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Ballantine Books for letting me read this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I followed the coverage of the Murdaugh debacle closely view news outlets/podcasts and approached this book with the thought that I would learn little. I was pleasantly surprised at the depth of detail the author included. The writing was clear, concise, and walked the reader through the timeline without seeming like a chronology. The information that provided historical context of the Murdaugh family and how their generational wealth and power gradually built up to the tragedy that unfolded was fascinating. I thank NetGalley for providing this advance copy for me to read and highly recommend it.

I absolutely loved this book! You really learn how corrupt some places and people are and they think because they have such a high name in society that nothing bad could ever happen to them regardless of all the murders and wrong doings a person does!!!! I would recommend this book to everyone that asked!!!

Really enjoyed this one. It was very well researched and at some parts read like fiction. Once the murder/trial part started I was flying through the pages. The first half took me longer to get to but were necessary to understand everything that was going on in his case. 4.5 stars.

As someone who followed the Alex Murdaugh trial with rapt attention, I found this book to be an essential companion. It’s not just a retelling of events; it’s an in-depth exploration of a family's legacy marked by embezzlement, murder, and cover-ups. The author masterfully presents a timeline that makes the plethora of scandals not only digestible but also riveting.

Thank you to NetGalley for those-copy in exchange for a honest review.This is a powerful, well written and researched novel about Alex Murdaugh and how he managed to destroy everything generations of Murdaughs in Hampton County, South Carolina had built . His greed, narcissism and sociopathic behaviors are on display throughout this novel as first hand accounts of all the people he wronged are explored.The level of depravity he exhibits when he murders his wife and son are unimaginable.In this novel you feel you are a witness to all these injustices .Highly recommend!

In the case of the Murdaughs, fact is truly stranger than fiction. This mess has intrigued me ever since it hit the headlines, and while I've watched a few documentaries on this, nothing gave the whole story justice like this book. The web of lies, deceit, and betrayal that Alex weaved just got crazier as the book unfolded. If you are looking for a deep dive into the story of the Murdaughs, this is it. Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for an ARC of this in exchange for a copy!

This book recounts one of the most well-known criminal cases of the 21st century, so far, the Alex Murdaugh murder trial. The author does an incredible job recounting the history of the Murdaugh family, their law firm, and their power within their small-town Southern community. All of this background information ultimately showcases the incredible destruction Alex Murdaugh wreaked upon his own family, family name, and ultimately himself.

The author spares no detail in her account of the days leading up to the murders, the actual murders, and the law enforcement's successes and failures as they investigated the murders. The final quarter of the book is dedicated to the trial itself. At times I felt like I was hearing the direct testimony of the entire trial, though that would have made for a book with thousands of pages!

What was it like to read this book? It was at times fascinating and also extremely heavy. This true story is a modern-day tragedy. Alex's fall from grace, completely self-inflicted, is complete. But the gut-wrenching details of all the family members, friends, and clients' unjust suffering is almost too much. So many people lost everything or nearly everything at their hands. I was relieved to finish the book simply because of the heavy nature of the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a complimentary eBook in exchange for an honest review. 4.5 Stars, rounded up.

I've followed some of the news about the Murdaugh murders, but this book was the perfect background for the entire case. In fact, it details the whole Murdaugh family, going back generations, as well as the other truly awful crimes that Alex Murdaugh has been linked to. You would think that this comprehensive of a book would feel overly long or boring, but it was incredibly captivating. Each chapter felt like a thrill ride even though most people know exactly how the story ends. I'm definitely a fan of Bauerlein's now, and I hope she writes about other true crime cases in the future. There are tons of cases that could use her attention to detail and flair for truthful storytelling.

Yes, I watched every moment of the Murdaugh trial with Emily D. Baker. I'm THAT true crime fan girl. But I still learned about the Murdaugh family and the power that it has held in the lowcountry for almost a century. Alex burned it all to the ground. At the end of the trial I was torn about his innocence or guilt. Still was until I finished this book. It was so well researched and laid out the facts in a way that convinced me. The hours of interviews and research that went into this book really shines through in the final product. Absolutely one of my favorite books of all time. This is one of those I will be re-reading regularly,

I was provided an ARC of this book for free from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.

If you've watched the documentaries or listened to the podcasts about the Murdaugh Murders then you'll have a pretty good idea of what you'll find in The Devil at His Elbow. Bauerlin's writing is sharp and so while you may know most of the subject matter, you're still on the edge of your seat, reading the rise and fall of the Murdaugh family. I really appreciated that she didn't just go straight to dealing with Alex but gave you details and background on the entire family going back a couple generations. I find it interesting how all the men in that family had a criminal mind and behavior. I know they say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree but wow. It saddens and angers me, how much that family took from people whether that be their livelihood or their lives.

Great. Googly. Moogly.

The Murdaugh family is a whole lesson in how privelege and entitlement is passed on from geneeration to generation and how CRAZY is also passed on - to say pathalogical lying waas a deep-rooted problem within this family is the biggest understatment ever - even when confessing, Alex was lying and that is when you realize just howw fractured is mind was - because of how he was raised and how his family treated him [and those who came before him] and covered for him, he believed it was perfectly fine to lie about everything. His ability to lie and manipulate and use his family name just blew my mind over and over again; I cannot imagine what is was like for those who had to encounter him on a regular basis [and do not even get me started on ALL the people he stole from and LIED to about the money - it is beyond infuriating].

Paul was a deeply problematic young man, who was the poster child of being a complete product of his environment [and belief that lying and using the family name for EVERYTHING was totes okay], and he absolutely should have had to face the reckoning of the death of Mallorie and whatever came from that trial. That said, he in no way deserved to be brutally killed by the very man he was taught to emulate and loved. Same with Maggie; she loved Alex through it all [the man was one huge screw-up and still they loved him] and her death especially was just so sensless. I cannot imagine what their last moments must have been like when they realized this man they loved was going to kill them - it is so chilling to think about.

Filled with details I had not read before, this was a deeply and meticulously researched [the author was also at the trial, so had a front-row seat so-to-speak of the circus] and very well-written treatise on how one family had everything [and I mean EVERYTHING] and lost it all and it will leave you just flabbergasted [and filled with sorrow over so much loss] by the very end.

Thank you to NetGalley, Valerie Bauerlein, and Random House Publishing Group - Ballentine/Ballentine Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Very interesting read and well written. I will definitely read more by this author. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC.

What is it about this family/case that is so fascinating? I've been obsessed, watching the movies, listening to podcasts, reading news articles, so I jumped at the chance to read this book. I don't think I've ever read a book so well researched and detailed even digging back into ancestral history and uncovering dark family secrets. The audacity, arrogance, greed and corruption in the Murdaugh dynasty runs deep and was obviously taught through each generation. Nothing seemed to be out of reach and morals were non-existent with the assumption of entitlement and invincibleness. But fate does catch up with Alex Murdaugh as he stoops to the lowest behavior yet, never taking responsibility for his actions. I plan on continuing to follow this story and will be interested in seeing if Buster, the remaining son, lives his life with a thread of decency. This is a powerful and insightful account of the Murdaugh family and the crimes perpetrated by them. My thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

The Murdaugh family is so slimy, so disgusting, so evil. Hearing about the things they did (not just Alex, but the entire family) literally made my skin crawl.

The book was well written and clearly well researched. It didn’t feel dry (probably because the subject matter is riveting) and I definitely learned a lot about the family that I didn’t know before. Well worth the read, in my opinion.