In 1924, a murder trial captivated much more than just Chicago where it took place. 19-year-old Nathan and 18-year-old Richard were both part-time college students from wealthy families who kidnapped and murdered Richard’s 14-year-old cousin.  For no other reason than that Richard considered himself a master criminal and wanted to see what he could get away with, and Nathan wanted Richard to continue sleeping with him and seemingly had no morality.  Both boys, while having privileged upbringings, also suffered neglect and abuse by their families and those employed to care for them.  This will be discussed during the trial as their sanity is questioned. No agreement could be made by dozens of doctors who seemed to fit into two schools of theory: insanity is binary and the boys displayed understanding of what they did, or that sanity exists on a spectrum and the boys were somewhere on there as displayed by their lack of humanity.  Their guilt was never on trial, as upon being quickly suspected and brought in for questioning, they both admitted to the crime, differing only on which committed the murder and whose idea it was.  The trial was to decide whether the boys would be given the death penalty or life in prison.

As always, Fleming take a wealth of research and primary documents and turns them into a fully fleshed out and easily readable story. While the crime itself is difficult to read about, the machinations of the trial and the criminal system at the time are interesting. Back matter includes an afterword, notes, a bibliography, and an index. Recommended for ages 13+.

Reviewed by Kara Reiman, Maine State Library