The South has always been steeped in mystery. Gunshots from duels fought for family honor still echo from the distant past. The same gray Spanish moss that swayed on moonlit nights throughout plantation grounds still move eerily on coastal breezes. It is in this fabled low country of South Carolina that the ever-changing tidal plain has begun to give up its secrets. A once powerful legal dynasty that covered five counties and spread throughout more like the deadly tendrils of the invasive kudzo vine was beginning to wither. It took the death of a beautiful 19-year-old girl named Mallory Beach to show the dark underbelly of a juggernaut family named Murdaugh. Here is the incredible saga of five mysterious deaths, a score of insurance fraud cases that devasted countless families, drug running, and possible dealings in sex trafficking. It is almost impossible to believe. Yet the shots that rang out on a rainy summer evening on the sprawling Moselle hunting property took not only the lives of the wife and son of Alex Murdaugh but were the percussions for justice that finally demanded answers on other deaths that had been buried beneath the subterfuge. Packed with photos, exclusive interviews, maps and trial transcripts, this is a comprehensive telling of the evidence, theories, victims and key players in this international thriller born of fact. Dedicated to Stephen Smith, Gloria Satterfield, Mallory Beach, Maggie and Paul Murdaugh, and those who would not give up until Goliath had fallen. Rebecca F. Pittman is a bestselling author of 16 titles. She is regularly featured on TV, radio and podcast programs. Her History and Haunting series of books spotlight the most famous landmarks in the world that just happen to be featured regularly on the most haunted lists. Her Countdown to Murder series began with the startling true crime saga out of St. Louis involving Pam Hupp: a seemingly innocuous housewife who stands accused of killing her best friend, a stranger, and even her mother for profit. The story spawned the popular NBC mini-series, The Thing About Pam. Future books in the Countdown to Murder series will showcase the true crime cases of Harold Henthorn, Lizzie Borden, and others. Visit her website at www.rebeccafpittmanbooks.com and sign up for her free newsletter.
