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The Family Man

The addictive true crime story of the Murdaugh murders

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The Family Man

Written by: James Lasdun
Narrated by: Matt Godfrey
Free with 30-day trial

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Justice may have been served, but the human element of the story didn't seem to add up. What drove a loving family man with everything to lose to become a killer?

In March of 2023, Alex Murdaugh was found guilty of murdering his wife Maggie and their younger son Paul at their home in South Carolina’s Lowcountry. The story became headline news around the world, with its outlandish revelations of corruption in high places, massive fraud, opioid abuse, fake suicides, suspicious accidents, and the generational recklessness of the wealthy legal dynasty at its centre.

James Lasdun explores the psychological puzzle at the heart of the story, which the murder trial failed to answer. Why did Alex Murdaugh murder his wife and son?

Featuring a cast of villains ranging from supposedly respectable lawyers to violent street gang members and a gothic setting in a small town in America's deep south, The Family Man is a gripping, immersive, twisting investigation of a double murder that seems to defy explanation.

‘A masterclass in calm, hard reasoning’ HELEN GARNER'
'One of our very best true crime documentarians... Riveting' JOYCE CAROL OATES
'The Truman Capote version of the Murdaugh story' SLATE

© James Lasdun 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026

 Murder Psychology Psychology & Mental Health True Crime
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Critic Reviews

This story, with its wild human convulsions and its dense moral fibre, demands serious narrative muscle from its teller. James Lasdun has what it takes, and more: his final chapters are a masterclass in calm, hard reasoning. (Helen Garner)
James Lasdun, one of our very best true crime documentarians, has written a riveting account of the notorious Alex Murdaugh murder trial. THE FAMILY MAN is a memorable examination of the making and enabling of a psychopath. Highly recommended. (Joyce Carol Oates)
[An] elegant and intelligent account… Lasdun’s unwillingness to be certain about anything pays off
Not since Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil have I read so vividly wrought an account of the South... when the book reaches a crescendo in its stunning final chapters, the elaborate detail becomes the foundation for his chilling distillation of Alex’s crimes (Orlando Whitfield)
Lasdun’s prose is pure pleasure
The Family Man is the Truman Capote version of the Murdaugh story, a thoughtful, well-researched, and beautifully written inquiry into how and why a person comes to commit such an appalling crime…Ultimately, Lasdun finds a way to imagine how Alex committed those two murders, and the result, in the final chapter of The Family Man, is a masterful description of moral equivocation (Laura Miller)
He brings literary polish to a quest to understand the inexplicable
A true-life Gothic tale of moral horror that wrestles with the reality of evil and its sinister, persistent influence over one powerful family and its milieu. (Walter Kirn, author of BLOOD WILL OUT)
The Family Man is a meticulous, spotlessly written, and clear-eyed journey into a distinctly American morass of wealth, privilege, and power. It's also a morally responsible meditation on the tragedies left within the ruinous wake. James Lasdun doesn't allow us a moment's breath to flinch and look away. (Paul Tremblay, New York Times bestselling author of HORROR MOVIE and A HEAD FULL OF GHOSTS)
Smart, objective third-party reportage… [Lasdun] make[s] clear how impenetrable the character of this man and his crimes remain – especially when he's apologising for them
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