For Viewers of the TNT Series I Am the Night and Fans of the Root of Evil Podcast, the Bestselling Book That Revealed the Shocking Identity of the Black Dahlia Killer and the Police Corruption That Concealed It for So Long A New York Times Bestseller An International BestsellerA New York Times Notable BookAn Edgar Award Finalist In 1947, the brutal, sadistic murder of a beautiful young woman … Book
An Edgar Award Finalist
In 1947, the brutal, sadistic murder of a beautiful young woman named Elizabeth Short led to the largest manhunt in LA history. The killer teased and taunted the police and public for weeks, but his identity stayed a mystery, and the murder remained the most tantalizing unsolved case of the last century, until this book revealed the bizarre solution.
Steve Hodel, a retired LAPD detective who was a private investigator, took up the case, reviewing the original evidence and records as well as those of a separate grand jury investigation into a series of murders of single women in LA at the time. The prime suspect had in fact been identified, but never indicted. Why? And who was he? In an account that partakes both of LA Confidential and Zodiac, for the corruption it exposes and the insight it offers into a serial killer’s mind, Hodel demonstrates that there was a massive police cover-up. Even more shocking, he proves that the murderer, a true-life Jekyll and Hyde who was a highly respected member of society by day and a psychopathic killer by night, was his own father. This edition of the book includes new findings and photographs added after the original publication, together with a new postscript by the author.
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A great read!!
This book documents several years of solid investigation into one of the most famous murders in American history, from a deeply personal perspective. Even though the author is personally involved, I appreciated his efforts to limit his potential biases when conducting the investigation…. and also there is literally no other human who has the particular history, background and training to definitively crack this case. Anyone else would have been missing critical pieces. His conclusion is carefully documented, brick by brick. He convinced me.
You couldn’t make up some of these improbabilities.
Great research. The author builds his case carefully and presents it convincingly.
What an indictment of the government and police department of Los Angeles.
This is a fascinating cold case, but the book is sloooow! I had to give up halfway through.
This book is a long winded account of a man trying to make his dad famous for some weird sadistic reason. This book is repetitious and just drones on mindlessly and the author stretched accounts of where his dad was to make his life fit the timeline of the movements of Elizabeth Short and ultimately the Dahlia murder.
I have long been fascinated by the Black Dahlia and I believe Dr. Hodel probably did it. This book definitely gives insight into the murder and possible linked murderers but it is written like a research paper or a pitch to a DA so while the information is interesting, the presentation is dry and flat. It was a hard one to power through.
THE BEST true crime book I ever read!!
The information and investigations were interesting. But it was not well written. It was hard to follow, it didn’t flow at all and I had to force myself to finish it. I personally would not recommend this book. It was so bad I can’t bring myself to read part 2 that I have already purchased.
The book was to long and drawn out with more details (dates, times, addresses, color of clothing, etc). It was a great story, but was hard to push through when the story could have been told more effectively with fewer details and pages.
Incredible book, absolutely couldn’t stop reading it!
Unbelievable story that is so full of facts that I think this murder and other murders have been solved.
I went as far as I could with this book but found it impossible to follow. It’s really all over the place. It doesn’t help that the entire theory of his father being the killer sprung from finding two pictures among his belongings… Of a woman who is clearly NOT Elizabeth Smart. I don’t care what the facial recognition experts have stupidly said, the only similarity is that both women were brunettes.
While it is certainly possible that George Hodel was the Black Dahlia killer, this book brings us no closer to proving the truth than we were before.
Too much written within the story about the author’s family
Very good but maybe a bit repetitive about some of the facts. It did convince me who murdered Elizabeth Short (“Black Dahlia”).
It is a very plausible account of how this poor woman came to be murdered. I have followed this case for years and this book makes sense!
I haven’t yet quite finished reading this rehashing of the grisly Los Angeles-based Black Dahlia murder case. The author covers things in gritty detail, with a surprisingly well-presented theory of who the murderer(s) were. If you’re interested in true crime novels, particularly this case, this is for you.