The Devil at His Elbow

 Alex Murdaugh had a son, Paul, who kept getting involved in suspicious deaths. Paul's friend died; the event was staged to resemble a hit-and-run, but questions lingered. Paul's housekeeper died--not at home, but at work, having fallen down a set of stairs. Paul guzzled alcohol, then drove his peers around in a boat. When a crash resulted in the death of one friend, Paul pressured witnesses to say that the identity of the driver was just too foggy. ("Who could possibly remember?")

At the same time, Paul's father, Alex, was committing his own crimes. He would take on legal clients, then steal their winnings, to fund his own oxy addiction. Additionally, Alex would parade around in the uniform of a Confederate soldier; this may not be a literal crime, but it's at least a *spiritual* crime.

These were terrible people--doing terrible things. Eventually, Alex concluded that Paul's misdeeds might lead to unwanted questions about oxy, about financial misconduct. According to one theory, looking to shut down the "Paul killed his friend" investigation, Alex lured his own wife and son to a kennel, then murdered them both. With these deaths, no one would want to be mean to the "grieving" Alex. The tactic actually worked for a while. When people began turning on Alex once again, Alex (apparently) arranged to have himself shot in the head (as a way of winning more sympathy points?). But this plan backfired; the country concluded that Alex was a psychopath. A jury reached the same conclusion.

"The Devil at His Elbow" has added treats. It's like "The Sopranos." The Murdaugh family was a kind of crime family; Murdaugh men would befriend cops in an effort to secure special perks. By a weird technicality, if you have an issue with a train anywhere in South Carolina, you can sue the train company in Hampton County (even if your issue occurred far, far from Hampton). Because the Murdaughs could fix juries, they could win massive settlements, no matter how small the complaint. So people all over SC would come to Hampton County with their grievance--and the Murdaughs would make a fortune. (Most Hampton County families did *not* profit from this tradition.)

The other great benefit of reading this book is that you meet heroic people--housekeepers, acquaintances, even a random car expert with valuable technical know-how--who were willing to risk their own safety to "torpedo the Murdaugh ship." The heroes are unforgettable.

I loved this book.