Paul Collins’s Duel with the Devil: The True Story of How Alexander Hamilton & Aaron Burr Teamed Up to Take on America’s First Sensational Murder Mystery is filled with intricate detail and is tautly written in the vein of a suspense thriller. The tale is divided into four parts—The Victim, The Accused, The Trial, and The Verdict—and includes a detailed map of Manhattan at the turn of the eighteenth century as well as a thorough section of notes and sources and, as is always appreciated in a nonfiction tome, an index.

 

The People vs. Levi Weeks was the first fully recorded murder trial in US history, and Collins was able to draw from a plethora of primary sources, including recorded courtroom dialogue. While the first section of the book is largely scene-setting, Collins does a stellar job of painting a vivid picture of the setting: post-Revolution Manhattan is recovering from a deadly outbreak of yellow fever in the summer and autumn of 1799; grief-stricken by the death of Washington; and experimenting with introducing running water into the city. The young America faces an uncertain future with the factions of Federalist and Republican ideals tearing apart the fabric of the new nation. At the forefront of each faction is Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. And in the outlying marshes of Lispenard’s Meadow a beautiful young woman, Elma Sands, is found at the bottom of a well.

 

Duel with the Devil is a compelling murder mystery, and Collins presents the material in an engaging, gripping fashion. The story does not suffer from any authorial interjections of opinions, and while the details Collins includes are not always related to the subject at hand, he gives the reader a vivid picture of the historical figures, the setting, the tumultuous politics, the judicial system, and the journalism of the time. Collins also shows just how small the nation was at the time and how intertwined the connections were, e.g. a key witness in the Weeks trial was also both Hamilton’s and Burr’s personal physician; the brother of the accused was employed as a contractor by both Hamilton and Burr; etc.

 

The men who would prove to be mortal enemies served as the ultimate dream team in defending the accused Levi Weeks, and the case is presented with all the breathless anticipation of a courtroom drama. The last two chapters of Collins’s book goes on to detail the infamous duel between Hamilton and Burr as well as detailing the lives of the other figures involved following the trial. Collins draws the thread of this murder mystery through history to present day, when in 2010 the very well in which Elma Sands’s body was found was uncovered in the basement of a bistro at the corner of Spring and Greene in Manhattan.

 

Collins’s book is a riveting read that is a stunning glimpse into life in young America at the turn of the eighteenth century and a brilliant recounting of the trial that teamed two of the US’s most bitter and infamous rivals. Duel with the Devil is a page-turning read and narrative nonfiction at its best.

 

Highly recommended for fans of nonfiction, courtroom dramas, murder mysteries, and history, particularly the history of the early days of America.