by Simon Baatz
First published 2008
Chicago, 1924. Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb believe their superior intellects make them untouchable. These wealthy college students plan what they consider the perfect crime: murdering a child purely for the excitement it will bring. They select their victim and carry out the brutal killing, convinced the police will never catch them. But authorities quickly apprehend the pair, and state's attorney Robert Crowe prepares what seems like an airtight case for execution. The families of the confessed killers turn to America's most celebrated defense attorney, Clarence Darrow, in a desperate bid to save their sons from the gallows. Set in the wild excess of Jazz Age Chicago, the story unfolds against speakeasies and gin parties, gangsters and flappers, in a lawless city teetering on chaos. The sensational trial becomes one of the most notorious criminal cases in American history, testing whether even the most skilled lawyer can defend the indefensible.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, mystery, crime, legal-thriller, american-history
Vibes: dark, emotional, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Chicago
Period: 1924
541 pages · Hardcover · Harper
Content warnings: murder, violence