Murder Among Friends

Author Candace Fleming

Grades 7 & Up Ages 12 and up

How did two teenagers brutally murder an innocent child...and why? And how did their brilliant lawyer save them from the death penalty in 1920s Chicago? Written by a prolific master of narrative nonfiction, this is a compulsively readable true-crime story based on an event dubbed the "crime of the century."

In 1924, eighteen-year-old college students Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb made a decision: they would commit the perfect crime by kidnapping and murdering a child they both knew. But they made one crucial error: as they were disposing of the body of young Bobby Franks, whom they had bludgeoned to death, Nathan's eyeglasses fell from his jacket pocket.

Multi-award-winning author Candace Fleming depicts every twist and turn of this harrowing case--how two wealthy, brilliant young men planned and committed what became known as the crime of the century, how they were caught, why they confessed, and how the renowned criminal defense attorney Clarence Darrow enabled them to avoid the death penalty.

Following on the success of such books as The Rise and Fall of Charles Lindbergh and The Family Romanov, this acclaimed nonfiction writer brings to heart-stopping life one of the most notorious crimes in our country's history.

Available Formats

Hardcover 9780593177426
Hardcover Library Binding 9780593177433
eBook 9780593177440
Unabridged Audiobook Download 9780593506578

State Awards

DC

2023, Capitol Choices, Selection

Massachusetts

2023, Massachussetts Teen Choices, Selection

Pennsylvania

2023-2024, Pennsylvania Young Readers’ Choice Award, Nominee

2023-2024, Keystone To Reading Secondary Book Award, Nominee

Texas

2022-2023, Texas Topaz Nonfiction Reading List, Selection

Featured In

Candace Fleming

Creator Spotlight
Random House Children's Books Teachers and Librarians