Nothing but the Night: Leopold & Loeb and the Truth Behind the Murder That Rocked 1920s America

King and Wilson, coauthors of The Last Voyage of the Andrea Doria, return with an intriguing deep dive into the horrific 1924 murder of 14-year-old Bobby Franks in Chicago. Affluent friends Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb abducted Franks, Loeb’s second cousin, on his way home after school, and, after striking him on the head with a chisel and shoving an ether-soaked rag down his throat, stripped his body, stuffed it in a pipe, and sent his family a ransom demand. Their scheme unraveled quickly, however, when police found Leopold’s glasses near Franks’s corpse. Their families retained Clarence Darrow, who managed to get his clients life sentences rather than the death penalty. The authors demythologize Darrow’s advocacy, noting that he manipulated the trial record to edit out portions of his actual remarks, and investigate theories about the four other crimes Leopold said the pair had committed, but refused to name. Most sensationally, King and Wilson suggest that Leopold may have had Loeb killed in prison to enhance his own parole bid. Unfortunately, the psychology that led to the murder remains speculative. Still, this is a disturbing and well-documented look at one of the 20th century’s most infamous murders. (Sept.)