Reviews

Alchemy of Bones: Chicago's Luetgert Murder Case of 1897

By Robert Loerzel University of Illinois Press Cloth, $29.95

Murderous Herman Mudgett, the infamous Dr. Holmes of The Devil in the White City, carried the runaway true crime story of 2003, set amidst the dazzle and brilliance of Chicago's World Columbian Exposition. But it was Robert Loerzel's brilliant Alchemy of Bones, a grisly sleeper from the University of Illinois Press, that kept me pinned to the sofa this past fall.
The curious case of the southsidc sausage maker, Adolph Luetgert, whose delicate wife Louise disappeared in the night on May 1, 1897, and never returned, held Chicago and the nation spellbound for months. Did she wander away from home, the victim of a depraved mental condition, or was she, as Luetgert's accusers maintained, murdered and boiled away in a sausage vat? Though Louise Luetgert s body was never found, scientists and forensic experts of the late 19th century employed all of their skill and knowledge to find out, spurred on by Chicago Police Inspector Michael Schaack, a man known for inventing evidence when necessary to seal a dubious conviction.
The brilliance of this story is in the telling. Loerzel, a journalist with the south suburbs' Pioneer Press, keeps readers guessing from start to finish. He takes us down country roads in rural Wisconsin looking for the missing woman, who might have been seen wandering the countryside in her black dress. He lures us into the sausage factory to peer into the suspected cauldron where human bones where allegedly found. But are they really human bones, or are the experts pawns in a political game?
Loerzel gives much to contemplate: the trial testimony, which reporters went to great lengths to serve up to hungry readers; the curious unconventional behavior of the defense attorneys; the testimonies of dubious and convincing witnesses; and the audacious trial vultures, mostly women, who alternately swooned and swore at the man in the middle of it all, handsome, evil Adolph Luetgert.

Alchemy of Bones is a delicious mystery told wisely and with just the right seasoning. It promises good things to come from Loerzel's kitchen.

-- reviewed by William Furry

24 Illinois Heritage