Murder in the Bayou Murder in the Bayou

Murder in the Bayou

Who Killed the Women Known as the Jeff Davis 8?

    • 4.3 • 69 Ratings
    • $12.99
    • $12.99

Publisher Description

A New York Times Bestseller & the Basis for the Hit Showtime Docuseries

Murder in the Bayou is a New York Times bestselling chronicle of a high-stakes investigation into the murders of eight women in a troubled Southern parish that is “part murder case, part corruption exposé, and part Louisiana noir” (New York magazine).

Between 2005 and 2009, the bodies of eight women were discovered in Jennings, Louisiana, a bayou town of 10,000 in the Jefferson Davis parish. The women came to be known as the Jeff Davis 8, and local law enforcement officials were quick to pursue a serial killer theory, stirring a wave of panic across Jennings’ class-divided neighborhoods. The Jeff Davis 8 had been among society’s most vulnerable—impoverished, abused, and mired with mental illness. They engaged in sex work as a means of survival. And their underworld activity frequently occurred at a decrepit motel called the Boudreaux Inn.

As the cases went unsolved, the community began to look inward. Rumors of police corruption and evidence tampering, of collusion between street and shield, cast the serial killer theory into doubt. But what was really going on in the humid rooms of the Boudreaux Inn? Why were crimes going unsolved and police officers being indicted? What had the eight women known? And could anything be done do stop the bloodshed?

Mixing muckraking research and immersive journalism over the course of a five-year investigation, Ethan Brown reviewed thousands of pages of previously unseen homicide files to posit what happened during each woman’s final hours delivering a true crime tale that is “mesmerizing” (Rolling Stone) and “explosive” (Huffington Post). “Brown is a man on a mission...he gives the victims more respectful attention than they probably got in real life” (The New York Times). “A must-read for true-crime fans” (Publishers Weekly, starred review), with a new afterword, Murder in the Bayou is the story of an American town buckling under the dark forces of poverty, race, and class division—and a lightning rod for justice for the daughters it lost.

GENRE
Nonfiction
RELEASED
2016
September 13
LANGUAGE
EN
English
LENGTH
272
Pages
PUBLISHER
Scribner
SELLER
Simon & Schuster Digital Sales LLC
SIZE
5.1
MB

Customer Reviews

mdna18 ,

Unsubstantiated speculation & loses focus on the murders of 8 women

While I am aware that police corruption exists, what I don't understand is why that seems to be the main focus of Brown's book, rather than focusing on the eight unsolved homicides, which is purportedly what this book was supposed to cover. As much as Brown mentions the thousands of pages of material he received regarding the investigations, most of this book seems to rely for the most part on hearsay. There is a lack of actual evidence presented in Brown's theories as to how these women may have been killed, and his over-reliance on the stories he has been told by drug dealers, drug addicts, pimps, and other criminals (who were the only people who seemed willing to talk to Brown) makes Brown's theories suspect. Reading through this book, it mostly came across as a lot of unsubstantiated guesswork on Brown's part. It also is extremely evident how biased Brown is towards law enforcement. Brown's mentioning of Ferguson has no relevance to the murders of eight women.
Then, Brown goes into a tangent on how other news agencies tried to discredit his writing. As far as I have read in this book, it was for good reason.
In short, this book is completely far-fetched, and mostly speculation.

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