Penguin Random House, Belletristik, The Devil at His Elbow (Englisch, Valerie Bauerlein, 2024)

&ldquo Valerie Bauerlein&rsquo s blistering, unforgettable account of the Murdaugh saga leaves no stone unturned, helping us finally truly understand the man at the center of one of the century&rsquo s wildest crime stories.&rdquo &mdash Robert Kolker, author of Hidden Valley Road and Lost Girls Power, privilege, and blood&mdash this is the definitive and thrilling true story of Alex Murdaugh&rsquo s violent downfall, from a veteran Wall Street Journal reporter who has become an authority on the case. Alex Murdaugh was a benevolent dictator&mdash the president of the South Carolina trial lawyers&rsquo association, a political boss, a part-time prosecutor, and a partner in his family&rsquo s law firm. He was always ready with a favor, a drink, and an invitation to Moselle, his family&rsquo s 1,700-acre hunting estate. The Murdaugh name ignited respect&mdash and fear&mdash for a hundred miles. When he murdered his wife, Maggie, and son Paul at Moselle on a dark summer night, the fragile faç ade of Alex&rsquo s world could no longer hold. His forefathers had covered up a midnight suicide at a remote railroad crossing, a bootlegging ring run from a courthouse, and the attempted murder of a pregnant lover. Alex, too, almost walked away from his unspeakable crimes with his reputation intact, but his downfall was secured by a twist of fate, some stray mistakes, and a fateful decision by an old friend who&rsquo d finally seen enough. Why would a man who had everything kill his wife and grown son? To unwind the roots of Alex&rsquo s ruin, award-winning journalist Valerie Bauerlein reported not just from the courthouse every day but also along the backroads and through the tidal marshes of South Carolina&rsquo s Lowcountry. When the jurors made their pilgrimage to the crime scene, trying to envision Maggie and Paul&rsquo s last moments, she walked right behind them, sensing the ghosts that haunt the Murdaughs&rsquo now-shattered legacy. Through masterful research and cinematic writing, The Devil at His Elbow is a transporting journey through Alex&rsquo s life, the night of the murders, and the investigation that culminated in a trial that held tens of millions spellbound. With her stunning insights and fearless instinct for the truth, Bauerlein uncovers layers of the Murdaugh murder case that have not been told.