Reviews - The Devil at His Elbow: Alex Murdaugh and the Fall of a Southern Dynasty

524 reviews for:

The Devil at His Elbow: Alex Murdaugh and the Fall of a Southern Dynasty

It's probably not very WWJD of me that, while how infuriating basically everything generations of this family got away with, how satisfying it was to finally see comeuppance and justice done. The first chapters were incredibly rough to listen to, as they connived and bribed and good ole boy'd their lives. But the investigation and the stories of those wronged speaking out such were worth it. The most shocking thing here, honestly, is that justice prevailed.

durbeyfielde's review against another edition

4.25

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

aldersonma21's review against another edition

5.0

4.5

one of the most well-researched and thorough true crime books to come out in the last five years or so

mcshimko's review

4.5

dark informative medium-paced

cjh's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad tense fast-paced

jonjas's review against another edition

5.0

Audiobook-

Seriously gripping, “In Cold Blood” for the modern age, unfortunately. Greed- greed kills. Ego kills. Legacy kills.

Alex is just such a scary nightmare of a human being- he’ll make you feel good, will seem confident and in control- and it’s all a weird game to him. Whatever Alex wants, that’s the end goal.

He’s an overgrown child, is the impression I get. His social skills and cunning are superb, but his basic morality- there isn’t any. It’s all self-serving short-term thinking, like he’s never faced consequences or been told no. Like he can’t be embarrassed, can’t lose, those just aren’t things that have happened, for him. He grew up a large fish in a small pond, and somehow unconsciously realized how much power that gave him.

The Capri Sun angle kinda encapsulates what I mean- he sipped a fuckin kid’s drink before offing his wife and son? Seriously? It’s like a comfort food for him, I suppose, but the fact that it’s just a known thing he loves capri suns, and no one in the office gave him shit for it- it’s weird, man. This family’s whole privileged existence is just weird, it shouldn’t exist. And it was shocking how easily a lawyer steals from clients, like wtf? This system broken. Book ain’t though, 5 stars.