One title on his list:"For the Thrill of It: Leopold, Loeb and the Murder That Shocked Chicago," by Simon Baatz (2008)Read about another book on the list.
Back in 1924, two super-intelligent young men killed a young boy in Chicago for fun. Their story, of upper-class depravity and the limits of justice, is as riveting today as ever.
The author masterfully weaves together many threads: upper-class ennui, anti-Semitism, the death penalty, the influence of psychology, the sensationalistic media, and the most masterful attorney of the time. Just as interesting is what happens to the two murderers after the Trial of the Century.
The Page 99 Test: For the Thrill of It.
Also see Ann Rule's five best true-crime books and Sarah Weinman's seven best true crime books.
--Marshal Zeringue
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