The Black Dahlia Avenger: The True Story

I'm sure there's a story of interest buried in there somewhere, but neither the author nor his editors had the skill to develop it. Reading this was torture.

I've read just about everything I can find about this fascinating case, and this is the most credible, convincing, and engaging one I've found. It is long, but I could not put it down. First, this writer has the highest credentials among the group of writers on this subject that includes some wackos and wannabes: he is the son of his own suspect and served many years as a senior homicide detective in L.A. The book is intriguing on many levels: as a steamy insight into L.A. life and crime in those days; as an exposure of the true depth of corruption present in L.A. law enforcement at the time; as an honest record of family abuse & pain; and, maybe most important, as a comprehensive historical record of all the true facts about this case still available. Whether you agree with Hodel's theory or not (I obviously do), this book is the most informative and factual you will find.

I am astounded by two things associated with Steve Hodel's "Black Dahlia Avenger."* This is NOT just about the Black Dahlia murder. This is an absorbing and painstaking reconstruction of events associated with the murder of Elizabeth Short, as well as about a dozen other sex-related (and to date unsolved) murders of women across several years in Los Angeles.* There is an amazing volume of mean-spirited venom about this book that, in my view, feels disproportionately harsh, given what author Hodel, a former homicide detective who has investigated more than 300 murders in the Los Angeles area, has accomplished. Hodel is not an amateur sleuth. His credentials are solid.What's best about "Black Dahlia Avenger" is until the very end, Hodel maintains an eerily professional sense of detachment about everything he uncovers. There are no sensationalistic pronouncements (or even sensationalistic photos) - and whenever he launches into something unproven, he tells the reader up front what must remain in the realm of "speculation" - while expressing an opinion that feels like common sense. Hodel writes and acts like the former homicide detective he is; and only at the end does he allow the reader a window into his emotions. Yet this is an engrossing read, accessible to all. It reads and tracks better than a fictional whodunit."Black Dahlia Avenger" is simply one of the finest true-crime books ever written. Author Hodel is so exhaustive in his research, he even devotes an entire chapter to what five decades of "mythology" associated with the Black Dahlia have done to taint our view about the crime and the victim herself.Hodel explores everything: the possible nature of Elizabeth Short's relationship with his father, police corruption and payoffs, the motives behind covering up or destroying evidence, the significance of an illegal abortion ring and its relationship to the LAPD, the relationship between the police and the press, the circle of "friends" the murderer and his accomplice had, their obsession with surrealism, sexual submission, etc. - an eerily timed incest trial involving his father and half-sister, an oddly coincidental 40 years worth of self-imposed "exile" by his father that in retrospect appears related to fears linked to the Dahlia - the list goes on and on. Yet best of all, Hodel does the most prudent thing any detective would do before going public. Beyond conducting an exhaustive number of interviews, he obtains "blind" handwriting analyses from a forensics expert, and to further convince himself and the reader that he's on the right track, he submits all of his data, as in a real murder investigation, to a surprised and perhaps initially skeptical deputy district attorney, Mr. Steve Kay in Los Angeles.Deputy D.A. Kay, while qualifying his opinion as being his own, declares that based on evidence gathered, author Steve Hodel is correct; his father George was the prime suspect in Elizabeth Short's murder, and if alive, he would be prosecute

Don't pick up this book unless you're prepared to read it cover to cover without stopping, it's that good! Steve Hodel, a highly-regarded LAPD detective, began his search for the Black Dahlia killer with not much to guide him but a feeling of dread...and a fascination with the case he could never quite explain. Though never officially closed, the case had been assigned to the 'cold files' for decades. Hodel, of course, had access to the files and decided, fairly early in his search, that the case had gone nowhere because someone higher up didn't want the killer's identity known. To his horror, Hodel discovered he knew the killer very well. If he ever considered closing the files and keeping his findings secret, Hodel steadily resisted the impulse. His courage is remarkable. The book isn't flawless. Hodel sometimes hobbles together various speculations, without considering other alternatives. But his conclusions are sound. And the apparent cover-up within the LAPD is seriously distrubing. Hodel writse very movingly about the victim, and takes great care to dismiss the lies and myths perpetrated about her by newspaper reporters, and former detectives assigned to the case. Particularly disturbing is the 'blame-the-victim' mentality various other writers have adopted towards the victim. Hodel points out that she was not a prostitute, she wasn't a thief,and she wasn't a stripper. She was an innocent young woman who never gave up hoping for one last chance to escape her unhappy childhood, and create her own happy ending.

After reading his extraordinary investigation I came away with a new respect for exceptional police work. Steve is a first rate researcher and investigator. His organization of the most minute details shows he has inherited something more than just the name from his now infamous/genius father, namely intelligence. It's a well written account of a gruesome string of murders from a man who loved and respected the killer. Yet, in spite of his emotional attachment, he persisted to find the truth. It must have been a most difficult and painful task. The former detective has done an extraordinary job. You won't put this down until your finished and then you'll want to talk about it.

I knew nothing about The Black Dahlia murder when I picked this book up. I made the mistake of reading the first chapter when I got home, and ended up compelled to read this cover to cover over the next 36 hours. As Hodel peels back the many layers of this tale of mid-century LAPD corruption, Hollywood lust and glamour, personal family drama and serial murder, he balances the explication of rigorous detective and forensic work with a true storyteller's sense of drama. This expose sheds light on the many dark corners of our justice system, the underside of Los Angeles and indeed the human psyche - and makes the stuff of Elmore Leonard, Raymond Chandler and James Ellroy nearly pale by comparison. Like a true crime cross between Silence of the Lambs and L.A. Confidential. Strongly recommend. Be warned however - the material here is gruesome at times, and not for the faint of heart.