Starting as a struggling journalist, Mandy Matney found her way to international fame by creating a podcast focused on small-town corruption in South Carolina.
In her book, “Blood On Their Hands: Murder, Corruption, and the Fall of the Murdaugh Dynasty,” published Nov. 14, 2023, by William Morrow, Matney explores her experiences during the investigation into the Murdaugh saga.
This book is not a true crime novel; it’s almost an autobiography, but fails there, too.
“Blood on Their Hands…” appears to be written by a journalist who’s been awash in the clickbait environment of modern digital news. It comes with a catchy title that would intrigue a true crime enthusiast but leaves the reader with few details of any genuine offense.
While there are crimes committed in the plot, the author treats them as an afterthought – a background to tell a story where she is the central figure. In the first section, Matney relays her time as a new journalist and the challenges facing newspapers in the digital era.
She discusses new strategies to engage sources and develop stories by using social media. She draws a picture of struggling newsrooms with lower budgets and fewer reporters as major media companies push page views as their metric for success. Matney also spends a great deal of time bemoaning the sexist world of journalism.
The author leads the reader to believe that she is going to tell a story about how she overcame these obstacles to uncover corruption, murder and conspiracy in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. But instead, she spends most her time complaining about how the world of journalism has failed her. Much of her writing is better suited for a personal journal or a therapist’s couch.
She started but failed to make the case that troubles facing traditional
media – lack of time, resources and integrity – allowed the Murdaugh family to continue in a good ol’ boy sense of entitlement.
Matney tells the story of the Murdaugh family in patches and makes leaps in logic that leave the reader to wonder why this family is so dangerous. At one point, she discusses looking into a potential story about the death of a local gay teen that may be, in some way, sort of, connected to the Murdaugh’s eldest son. While traveling to view the death scene, she describes being followed by a state trooper and how anxious that made her, even calling a police friend to stay on the phone with her until she gets out of the county. The story conveys just how scared she was that night. What it does not convey, at this point, is why she should fear a state trooper.
The reader isn’t truly introduced to the Murdaugh family and the corruption of Alex Murdaugh that destroyed lives until the last few pages of the book.
Matney has been successful in the podcast world and through a digital newspaper. So, one must assume that she can write to keep an audience’s attention and provide enough newsworthy details to keep them coming back. Her description of life during the Murdaugh saga was fast-paced and grueling. This book would have better served if she had taken time to truly reflect on the lessons learned as a journalist or to piece together all the moving parts of the Murdaugh investigation. Unfortunately, it does neither.
Published by HarperCollins, New York, Mandy Matney’s “Blood on Their Hands: Murder, Corruption, and the Fall of the Murdaugh Dynasty,” 272 pages, is available at Audible, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million.
U.S. Military Academy at West Point graduate Michael Stopp is CEO of Swift Creek Security Solutions and managing partner of Swift Creek Consulting. Stopp is one of five members of the Native American Working Group for Major League Baseball’s Atlanta Braves, to promote Native American culture and build professional relationships within the sports community.
Appointed as Oklahoma Athletic Commissioner by Gov. Kevin Stitt in 2020, Stopp is a member of Leadership Oklahoma Class XXXII, Leadership Native Oklahoma Class II, and Tahlequah Leadership Class XVI. He also serves on the Leadership Oklahoma Board of Directors.