NetGalley ARC | Nothing but the Night: Leopold & Loeb and the Truth Behind the Murder that Rocked 1920s America

I received a free digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Rating | ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Most people know at least the bare bones of the original "Crime of the Century" - two super rich white teenagers who thought they were so massively intelligent that they could get away with the perfect crime. It's true they were all of those things - Loeb graduated from the University of Michigan at 17 and had chosen the University of Chicago for graduate school. Leopold had just graduated at 18 from the University of Chicago, and would soon be off to Harvard Law. But they were also incredibly arrogant, as a result of all of these things, and there's no way they would ever going to actually get away with it.

Their victim, Bobby Franks, was fourteen years old when he was brutally murdered - all because Leopold and (Bobby's distant cousin) Loeb, wanted the thrill of out-smarting everyone.

Add to the mix Clarence Darrow as their defense attorney and you also have the "Trial of the Century".

The story has always been that Loeb was the mastermind, a pure psychopath who had Leopold on a leash and could get him to do anything because Leopold was so madly in love with Loeb. While the latter part is true, this examination of the evidence paints a bit of a different picture. Make no mistake, they were both guilty and deserved the death penalty, but Darrow's supposed "greatest defense summation of all time" won them life in prison instead of the death.

I feel it is always dangerous to try and diagnose historical figures. I have read so many books positing what made Henry VIII turn into such a raving psychopath, the reason all of Catherine's babies died except Mary, etc. However, I think it is marginally more possible for those like Leopold and Loeb, who lived and died in the 20th century. There's far more evidence and documentation that has been carefully preserved for us to examine - photographs, witness statements, everything possible to "solve" a case that hs been already solved.

Because that's the draw of cases like this, isn't it? We know they did it. They confessed, they had no remorse, everyone and everything was beneath them. But we want to know WHY. Why did these two eighteen year olds, the world at their fingertips, brilliant young men who could have done anything, decide that a thrill kill was the thing they wanted most?

Sadistic and psychopath sum it up, basically.

The authors spend a fair amount of time examining the relationship between the two young men and the power dynamic between them. All previous discussion has indicated, as I said before, that Loeb was the mastermind and Leopold his faithful follower. Something to keep in mind though, is that Loeb was dead by 1930, having been murdered in prison. That left decades for Leopold to rehab his image and lay the blame all at Loeb's feet - which he promptly did. Though both men had confessed to taking part in the murder upon being arrested, neither would admit to being the one who delivered the blows that ultimately killed Franks. Yet in examining the evidence left behind, the authors paint a different picture - one with Leopold the actual leader.

Leopold's obsession with Loeb is clear from the start. The fact that the young men were in a secret sexual relationship was something that added to the sensationalism of the crime, trial, and aftermath. Yet most sources from the time show that Leopold was the more sexually aggressive of the two and Loeb wasn't necessarily quite as into that aspect of the relationship all the time. Both young men were deeply troubled and existed in their own violent and dangerous little world and neither should be absolved for their roles in the murder. Something that did not quite sit well with me is the authors attempt to somehow make Loeb the lesser of two evils? I don't know if that was their intention, but that is how it came across at times.

The book is incredibly in-depth, digging into the lives of Leopold and Loeb before murdering Franks. How they met and the activities they participated in as any other 18 year old college students would - it was strange to see them doing such normal things, all the while trying to plan the perfect crime.

Recommended for anyone with an interest in this case specifically or true crime in general.