THE LOWCOUNTRY MURDERS

ARTHUR CERF

An attorney beyond suspicion. An exceptional trial.

January 23rd, 2023, South Carolina.
Alex Murdaugh, who comes from a long line of lawyers and prosecutors, stands before a jury for the first time at the Colleton Courthouse. He is accused of having murdered both his wife Maggie and his son Paul on the evening of June 7th, 2021.
This trial marks the end of a fascinating story that has gripped the United States for months. An unusual case involving financial crimes, drug abuse, corruption, attempted suicide disguised as murder and other mysterious deaths in 2015, 2018 and 2019.
But more than anything else, this story explores America's perception of itself: the notion of family, success, power, violence... The tale of a declining dynasty in a declining country.
Arthur Cerf lived in Colleton County for eight weeks to write about this high-profile trial, which he brilliantly recounts as the end of a dynasty.

In partnership with the French magazine Society, this collection aims to paint a picture of the United States through their biggest criminal cases, with - approximately - one book per state. Society met a huge success with a special editions in two volumes about the Xavier Dupont de Ligonnès case, which sold over 400,000 copies.
The stories are written by French journalists from Society, who were sent to the USA to investigate. Our goal is to offer highly documented and short true crime books that could be read as thrillers, and the result is stunning. The tone is incisive, and straight-to-the-point - as journalists know how to do - and the stories are at the same time as gripping as thrillers, with cliffhangers at the end of chapters.