Society & Culture · CBS News
by CBS News
When the charred remains of prominent commercial real estate attorney Gary Farris were discovered on a burn pile with a bullet lodged in a rib bone, detectives knew they were facing a homicide investigation. The crime scene was a sprawling 10-acre property in Cherokee County, Georgia, where Gary Farris lived with his wife, Melody, and their son, Scott. Gary Farris seemed to be a loving husband and father, affectionately called “Big Daddy”. Yet, all signs seemed to suggest that one of Gary Farris’ own family members was responsible for his murder. It turns out this family had a lot of secrets – involving money and infidelity. Much like an actual Ferris wheel, the blame game went round and round. Join 48 Hours correspondent Peter Van Sant for “Blood is Thicker: The Farris Wheel,” a six-episode podcast that unravels a tangled family saga.
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Where Blood is Thicker: The Farris Wheel ranks today in each Apple Podcasts chart (US, Sep 6, 2026).
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I used to be fiercely loyal to Dateline and wouldn’t even entertain the thought of listening to or watching any other crime reporters, but after listening to a 48 Hours podcast on the way home from work one evening I have loved it ever since. I don’t mind paying for the Premium ad free version because it is just that good. “Blood is Thicker” was amazing and very well put together.
First off, great reporting and the show kept me engaged. I just felt like they drug out the episodes with details that seemed repetitive. I think they could have told this story in 3 episodes vs the 6 for this series. I’m not a reporter/producer/podcaster so maybe it wasn’t that easy. I recommend this series…IF you’re patient.
The story is an interesting one (though it’s obvious early on who did it) but I’m distracted by the background music choices… the narrator is describing details that are somewhat serious or even supposed to be scary & the music choice tends to be more akin to a children’s show (feels light & bouncy?)… there doesn’t even need to be music but the songs used totally undercut the tone…
It’s a compelling story but the narrator is super dramatic and the episodes end very abruptly. I enjoyed being introduced to the content but found independent research more rewarding than the podcast itself.
Voyeurism isn’t quite the right word but this is really tasteless. I don’t want to hear the audio of the moment these poor people find out their family members were killed. Can’t people have some measure of privacy? I would feel really violated if I talked to 911 or an officer and the recording became public entertainment. I like to hear true crime stories but the victims need some basic privacy. This is too upsetting to listen to.
This was a decent case, but it was very painful to listen to over many episodes. The story moved so slowly, the narrator spoke very slowly. I considered fast forwarding through the episodes, but I thought maybe I would miss some big bombshell. However, the bombshell never happened. The person that detectives first suspected, in fact, did commit the crime. Just an overall sad case, but way too drawn out.
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