3.5 stars rounded up to 4. I’m glad I knew this was more of a memoir than a true crime deep dive before jumping in. It’s an insiders look at Mandy Matney’s career and how she became an integral part of Alex Murdaugh’s undoing and all of the tragedy that unfolded. ( )

My local library recently acquired this book. Because I followed the trial of Alex Murdaugh who was found guilty of murdering his son Paul and Wife Maggie, I thought I would like this book. I was wrong. I usually try to put a good spin on a book, even if I cannot give it a lot of stars. But there was too much about the author's style of writing that was off putting.

A reporter of the local newspaper, Mandy Matney seemed to be very self absorbed. It took way too long to get information about the "Murdaugh Dynasty," because the author went on and on about her career, and her mistreatment at the hands of those who held positions above her status in the newspaper.

She references the F word way too often. There is no need to say this when others could suffice much better, and to use this word consistently only lent problems to her writing and her personality.

The author lived in the low country three years and was a journalism reporter for a local paper. She was proficient in pulling together a lot of information, but by then, I lost interest because of what was referenced above.

The Murdaugh's were a very wealthy family with a long lineage of sons who become lawyers. Alex Murdaugh was a well- known abuser of power and people. He had a severe drug addiction, was a self-absorbed sociopath and, to add to the list of despicable traits, he stole millions from his clients.

In particular, he promised to represent the family of the long-term family cleaning lady/previous long-term babysitter who supposedly tripped down steps as a result of dogs getting in her way. From the tape of his wife Maggie's phone call to 911 when she reported the "accident," lead anyone who heard her diatribe to understand she was an entitled snob who looked down on anyone who didn't acquire the name she had when she married Alex. Taken to the hospital, Gloria Satterfield was pronounced dead a few days later. Alex Murdaugh also stole from this impoverished family, confiscating a huge sum of insurance money.

Her accident was met with more suspicion when Alexs' seedy personality already well-known became more apparent as the list of crimes grew longer, and more egreggious, especially when he killed his wife and son.

Before this incident, his near-do-well long-term drunken son, Paul, was responsible for the death of a young girl who was the friend of all who were on the family boat one evening. In a drunken stage, he crashed the boat into the pilings of a bridge. The young girl thrown from the boat and killed did not deserve to die, and making the experience worse to the family, Alex tried to blame another for driving the boat instead of his spoiled, cruel son.

All along, there were major cover ups of information. Adding fuel to the fires of many nasty, illegal incidents, was the fact that the Murdaugh's consistently used people.

Adding to the long list of crimes was the fact that a young very intelligent gay man who had a lot of promise was found dead on a country road. Supposedly, Stephen Smith died from a hit and run accident. None of the evidence supported this blatant lie. It was rumored that Stephen Smith was the lover of one of the two Murdaugh sons, and to quell this rumor perhaps Stephen had to be killed.

If you can get past the consistent use of the F word, and the self serving pity- poor-me attitude of the writer, then you might want to read this book. ( )