Tuesday, August 15, 2023

Showcase- Tangled Vines: Power, Privilege, and the Murdaugh Family Murders by John Glatt

If you've watched the news lately you've obviously seen a story about prominent attorney Alex Murdaugh who has been charged for the murder of his wife Maggie and youngest son Paul. 
Now true crime author John Glatt has recounted the tragic story.

ISBN-13: 978-1250283481
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Release Date: 08-08-2023
Length: 320pp
Buy It: Amazon/ B&N/ IndieBound

ADD TO: GOODREADS

Overview:

In Tangled Vines, bestselling true crime author John Glatt reconstructs the rise of the prestigious Murdaugh family and the shocking double murder that led to the downfall of its patriarch, Alex Murdaugh.

Among the lush, tree-lined waterways of South Carolina low country, the Murdaugh name means power. A century-old, multimillion-dollar law practice has catapulted the family into incredible wealth and local celebrity―but it was an unimaginable tragedy that would thrust them into the national spotlight. On June 7th, 2021, prominent attorney Alex Murdaugh discovered the bodies of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, on the grounds of their thousand-acre hunting lodge. The mystery deepened only months later when Alex himself was discovered shot in the head on a local roadside.

But as authorities scrambled for clues and the community reeled from the loss and media attention, dark secrets about this Southern legal dynasty came to light. The Murdaughs, it turned out, were feared as much as they were loved. And they wouldn’t hesitate to wield their influence to protect one of their own; two years before he was killed, a highly intoxicated Paul Murdaugh was at the helm of a boat when it crashed and killed a teenage girl, and his light treatment by police led to speculation that privilege had come into play. As bombshells of financial fraud were revealed and more suspicious deaths were linked to the Murdaughs, a new portrait of Alex Murdaugh emerged: a desperate man on the brink of ruin who would do anything, even plan his own death, to save his family’s reputation.

Praise:

"Readers will be swept up in this account." ―Booklist, starred review

“Glatt has produced the equivalent of a juicy John Grisham novel, featuring a lead more 'dark and totally devoid of conscience' than anyone he’s ever researched. This real-life Southern noir lingers.” ―Publishers Weekly, starred review

"John Glatt pulls aside the South Carolina Low Country’s curtain of Spanish moss and steps smoothly into its swamp of corruption, embezzlement, and murder, delivering a Baedeker of the family’s steady rise and spectacular fall." ―Air Mail

"Excellent. " ―Montecito Journal


About the author:

John Glatt is an investigative journalist with more than thirty-five years experience. In the last thirty years he has written 25 true crime books and 5 biographies. With more than a two million books currently in print all over the world, Glatt is acknowledged to be one of the best true crime writers working today.

A native of London, England, Glatt left school at sixteen and worked in a variety of jobs - including tea boy and messenger - before joining a small weekly newspaper outside London, where he honed his keen news sense. Over the next few years he freelanced for many national English newspapers, including The Daily Express, The Sunday People, The Daily Mail and Woman Magazine.

In 1981 he moved to New York, working on staff for News Limited, as well as freelancing for Newsweek, Omni, the New York Post, the Australian, Modern Business and other newspapers and magazines worldwide.

His first book Rage & Roll: Bill Graham and the Selling of Rock, was published in 1993 to critical acclaim. Two years later he wrote Lost in Hollywood: The Fast Times and Short Life of River Phoenix, a well received biography on the tragic movie star. His next book, The Chieftains: An Authorized Biography, which was published in 1997, saw him nominated for a 2000 Grammy in the spoken word category. In 1998 wrote the well-received The Ruling House of Monaco: The Story of a Tragic Dynasty, uncovering many new revelations about the Grimaldis.

In 1998 he wrote his first true crime book, For I Have Sinned: True Stories of Clergy Who Kill. A year later he followed it up with Evil Twins, an anthology of twins that kill. And since then he has written a True Crime book a year for St. Martin's Press True Crime Library, establishing him as a master of the genre.

His latest book Golden Boy will be published in July 2021 and he is working on a book about the Lori Vallow/ Chad Daybell case - The Doomsday Mother - which will be published in January 2022.

Over the years, Glatt has appeared on scores of television and radio programs all over the world, including ABC 20/20, Dateline NBC, Fox News, Discovery ID, BBC World, and A&E Biography.

He and his jewelry designer wife Gail live in the Catskill Mountains.


2 comments:

  1. This looks good. I watch a documentary about them, but cannot remember where.

    ReplyDelete