In South Carolina, the Murdaugh name means power. But when attorney Alex Murdaugh discovered the bodies of his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, on June 7, 2021, the family was thrust into the national spotlight. The mystery deepened months later when Alex himself was discovered shot in the head on a roadside. But as authorities scrambled for clues, dark secrets about this Southern legal dynasty came to light. The Murdaughs wouldn’t hesitate to wield their influence to protect one of their own. 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 murder his wife and son, to save his family’s reputation.

At first, the residents of Kauai Beach Resort took little notice of their new neighbors. The couple seemed to keep to themselves --- until the police knocked on their door with a search warrant. Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell had fled to Hawaii in the midst of being investigated for the disappearance of Lori’s children, Tylee and JJ, back in Idaho. As authorities searched for the missing children, they uncovered more suspicious deaths with links to both Lori and Chad. In June 2020, the remains of JJ and Tylee were discovered on Chad’s property, and the newlyweds were charged with murder. And in a shocking development, horrifying statements revealed that their fanatical beliefs had convinced them the children had become zombies.

By all accounts, Thomas Gilbert Jr. led a charmed life. With his striking good looks, he moved with ease through glittering social circles and followed in his father’s footsteps to Princeton. But Tommy always felt different. The cracks in his façade began to show in warning signs of OCD, increasing paranoia and an inexplicable hatred of his father. As his parents begged him to seek psychiatric help, Tommy pushed back by self-medicating with drugs and escalating violence. When a fire destroyed his former best friend’s Hamptons home, Tommy was the prime suspect --- but he was never charged. Just months later, he shot his father point-blank in the head. Journalist John Glatt takes an in-depth look at the devastating crime that rocked Manhattan’s upper class.

In the early morning hours of August 13, 2018, Shanann Watts was dropped off at home by a colleague after returning from a business trip. It was the last time anyone would see her alive. By the next day, Shanann and her two young daughters, Bella and Celeste, had been reported missing, and her husband, Chris Watts, was pleading for his family’s safe return. But less than 24 hours later, Watts made a shocking confession to police: he had strangled his pregnant wife to death and smothered their daughters, dumping their bodies at a nearby oil site. In this first major account of the case, John Glatt reveals the truth behind the tragedy and constructs a chilling portrait of one of the most shocking family annihilator cases of the 21st century.

On January 14, 2018, a 17-year-old girl climbed out of the window of her Perris, California home and dialed 911 on a borrowed cell phone. Struggling to stay calm, she told the operator that she and her 12 siblings were being abused by their parents. When the dispatcher asked for her address, the girl hesitated. “I’ve never been out,” she stammered. Louise and David Turpin presented themselves as loving, faithful parents. But what police discovered when they entered the Turpin home would eclipse the most shocking child abuse cases in history. For years, Louise and David had kept their children in increasing isolation, trapping them in a sinister world of torture, fear and near starvation. THE FAMILY NEXT DOOR is the definitive account of the Turpins: a family whose dark secrets would shock and captivate the world.