Keila (speedreadstagram)'s Reviews > The Devil at His Elbow: Alex Murdaugh and the Fall of a Southern Dynasty

This true crime book was rather interesting. I, unlike so many, had not heard of Alex Murdaugh so learning about this terrifying family was truly horrifying. I know, this was all over the news, so how could I not know about it? I don’t watch a lot of news. The Murdaugh family is like the villain type family you read about in fiction novels. Alex Murdaugh was so horrific, and he committed so many crimes that I really didn’t think that he was real half of the time. I just couldn’t believe that someone could get away with so many crimes for so long, but he did because of the family he came from.

This book was long, at almost 500 pages, and for me I felt that it really could have been condensed. I found myself tuning out a lot of the details and wanting to skip over them but because I was unsure where everything was going, I kept reading. I do think that the author wove an interesting story, but there were too many details on certain parts of the story, and not enough on the others. I wish I could have learned more about the court case and what went into that aspect. The piece about Alex Murdaugh’s falling apart on the stand was a real treat though.

Overall, I Learned a lot about the Murdaugh’s and the corruption of Alex Murdaugh. Alex Murdaugh was not a good man, not a nice man, he was by all accounts a lowly criminal and the only reason everyone didn’t think so was because of his family.

I liked reading that Alex still will serve a lengthy sentence even if somehow, he manages to overturn his convictions for the crimes he committed against his wife and son. While it isn’t enough, it’s something.

This was a well don’t true crime book and shared a lot of very valid information about the case. I would most definitely recommend this to others looking to learn more about the family.

Thank you to the publisher Ballantine and @netgalley for this e-arc. All thoughts are my own.