Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
Murder in the Bayou
Murder in the Bayou: Who Killed the Women Known as the Jeff Davis 8? | Ethan Brown
19 posts | 17 read | 24 to read
An explosive, true-life southern gothic story, Murder in the Bayou chronicles the twists and turns of a high-stakes investigation into the murders of eight women in a troubled Louisiana parish. Between 2005 and 2009, the bodies of eight women were discovered around the murky canals and crawfish ponds of Jennings, Louisiana, a bayou town of 10,000 in the heart of the Jefferson Davis parish. Local law enforcement officials were quick to pursue a serial killer theory, opening a floodgate of media coveragefrom CNN to The New York Times. Collectively the victims became known as the Jeff Davis 8, and their lives, their deaths, and the ongoing investigation reveals a small southern communitys most closely guarded secrets. As Ethan Brown suggests, these homicides were not the work of a single serial killer, but the violent fallout of Jennings brutal sex and drug trade, a backwoods underworld hidden in plain sight. 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 determine what happened during each victims final hours. Epic in scope and intensely suspenseful, Murder in the Bayou is the story of an American town buckling under the dark forces of poverty, race, and class divisionand a lightning rod for justice for the daughters it lost.
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
review
TorieStorieS
post image
Panpan

After being disappointed by my last #TrueCrime listen, I thought I‘d give this one a try- vaguely familiar with the string of murders after watching some coverage years ago. Unfortunately, the dry and unstructured presentation made me wish that I had more than a passing familiarity with the victims and local key players going in—it‘s a quick listen but one that reveals a sad story of an area in economic decline, offering no resolution to the case.

review
Clwojick
post image
Mehso-so

And that‘s a wrap! #BookSpinBingo

katiekat311 Holy cow! Amazing work👏🏼👏🏼 1y
Read4life Wow! Impressive 💙 1y
AnnR Way to go! 🙂 1y
TheAromaofBooks Yay!! Fantastic progress!!! 1y
67 likes4 comments
blurb
Clwojick
post image

Starting my LAST #bookspinbingo pick!

5feet.of.fury Nice! I listened to this one during #scarathlon 1y
47 likes1 comment
review
5feet.of.fury
post image
Pickpick

Brown starts describing why he felt these cases deserved more attention. The victims were sex workers, who often aren‘t shown sympathetically and were taken advantage of by those who should be protecting them. We talk about the impact true crime genre has on families but he wants to get them justice, works to show them respect & only shows negatively the corrupt PD. But WOW is this graphic.
#20in4 #spookoween #scarathlon2022 #teamslaughter #31by31

Clwojick Glad you enjoyed it! I have this one in my Chirp collection. 1y
TheSpineView Awesome 1y
Catsandbooks 🙌🏼🐺💙 1y
EvieBee My husband was telling me about a documentary he saw in this case and it was mind boggling to him why it didn‘t get more press. 1y
5feet.of.fury @EvieBee it‘s really awful! Blatant corruption in the PD. 1y
29 likes5 comments
blurb
5feet.of.fury
post image
rachelsbrittain Great job! 1y
24 likes1 comment
blurb
JenReadsAlot
post image

Bought this when I was I'm NOLA earlier this year, but haven't read it yet. #scarathlondailyprompts #murder @Clwojick

5feet.of.fury I have this one downloaded on audible but I keep putting it off. 🙃 1y
30 likes1 stack add1 comment
review
la_rose_noire
post image
Bailedbailed

I wanted to like this book so badly! I kept trying "one more chapter". It's been years since I haven't finished reading a book.

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks I hate when that happens!! 3y
33 likes2 comments
blurb
la_rose_noire
post image

Next on the #tbr list! #truecrime

35 likes2 stack adds
review
DrLReads
Mehso-so

An important piece of journalism that exposes systemic police corruption in Louisiana. The ending however, felt comparably abrupt. Likewise, Brown devotes a great deal of ink to his own theories and to rebuttals and defence of his reporting against local news outlets. (True, this points to how far-reaching this corruption is, but it muddied the focus). I would have appreciated more on the women of the Jeff Davis 8 at the centre of the case.

review
Hooked_on_books
post image
Mehso-so

Over the course of 4 years, 8 sex workers, all well known to one another, were killed in Jeff Davis Parish in Louisiana. Brown makes the case that these murders are connected and unsolved due to police corruption and possible collusion. I‘m not entirely convinced by his arguments, though there‘s clearly something wrong in this place. Also, his book reads like a large information dump rather than a smooth narrative. Not well executed. #doublespin

Cinfhen Too bad because the premise sounds interesting 4y
TheAromaofBooks Great review!! 4y
43 likes2 comments
review
CoffeeK8
post image
Pickpick

A chilling story of the death and coverup of at least 8 people in a remote part of Louisiana. It appears to be at best, an inept and unconcerned police force because the worse interpretation of this story is a massive, statewide police coverup. #audiobook

ClairesReads This sounds really interesting, I‘d not heard of it before. 4y
ljuliel Yes it‘s a perfect example of certain classes of people getting no attention when they‘re murdered. Pretty sad , but our system is a bit rigged. If you‘re poor, not white, on drugs, alcoholic, hookers, street people , the authorities don‘t put much or any effort into the case. But if you‘re rich, you can ALMOST buy your way out of anything. 4y
CoffeeK8 @ClairesReads yes It was new to me too! 4y
CoffeeK8 @ljuliel completely agree 4y
ClairesReads @CoffeeK8 thanks for bringing it to my attention 4y
38 likes2 stack adds5 comments
blurb
Kappadeemom
post image

A little light reading during lunch #murder 😂😂

blurb
Kappadeemom
post image

Checking out my new read #JacktheDorkie

62 likes2 stack adds
review
ASavage
Mehso-so

While this is not a bad book, it's not my normal genre so I had a hard time with it. But, it is a well written piece of investigative journalism on a series of murders and police corruption.

blurb
ASavage
post image

Murder in The Bayou is due back and I'm only halfway through. 😦

blurb
Qemorio
post image

Ethan Brown signing his book for us during Tennessee Williams Festival. #TWF17

blurb
Bookladylinda
post image

I'm at the hair salon this morning, getting ready to start this one. Hopefully I make it back home before the rain comes.

TheBookStacker This is on my TBR pile, I bought it simply because I live in Louisiana lol 7y
Bookladylinda @TheBookStacker - it called to me while I was at the library - I hope it's good! 7y
27 likes2 comments
review
libchristina
post image
Mehso-so

I thought it was okay. It was all over the place, which was annoying. I also wish we learned more about the women themselves, not just about their murder. Brown just gave the bare minimum about them. I mostly wanted to read this book, because I wanted to hear more of the women.

blurb
Qemorio
post image

Ethan Brown reading from his book.