This was a well-researched and well-written true crime book. Steve Hodel's writing grabs you, and he is thorough in his descriptions of events and people. I had never really looked into the Black Dahlia, but I knew the basic information. I was not completely convinced that Dr. George Hill Hodel was the Black Dahlia killer though.

I felt like some of the evidence that was presented was circumstantial and reaching. There were many times that I thought "that could have happened, but there's no proof, it could have been someone else." I definitely didn't agree with the handwriting analysis. I'm not an expert, but I looked at those samples and to me, they looked completely different and I don't believe the same person wrote them at all. And connecting some events to Man Ray's art because Dr. Hodel was "obsessed" with it seemed to be reaching for a connection. Plenty of murderers and serial killers pose their victims, I really feel like the fact that Elizabeth Short was posed doesn't have the connection to Man Ray's art that Steve Hodel thinks it does.

There is, obviously, proof that Dr. Hodel and Elizabeth Short knew each other, because he had her pictures in his album. However, that doesn't necessarily mean he killed her. It does seem likely, and Dr. Hodel was a manipulative, deceptive man. Some of the other murders that are included here I'm not so sure about...or there are a lot of others that Steve hasn't connected yet. There are time frames where Dr. Hodel and/or Fred Sexton were murdering almost weekly, then there's no one for over a year.

I will say that I was definitely on the fence about Steve's evidence and case against his father until the Aftermath section at the end of the book. After gaining access to certain files that he hadn't previously had access to, and having the transcripts from the bugs in the Franklin house, I feel some of the items that I wasn't convinced by seemed to finally solidify for me.

All in all, a great read. Well written and researched, and thorough to the point of sometimes being too detailed. If you enjoy true crime, this is definitely one to get engrossed in. ( )

I had a hard time getting started on this book. Right off, he tells us he got suspicious after finding photographs of Elizabeth Short in a photograph album of people special to his father. Looking at the photos myself, I couldn't make the connection.

So I went to the back of the book with the updates -- as you do. This made me curious, so I started reading mostly from the beginning and continued on.

While I think the catalyst was sketchy, he did find some evidence that his father was probably involved, though he does make a few giant leaps, not the least of which was a black sedan being spotted at the crime scene(s), so it must have been his father, since he owned a black car!

It was also off-putting that he felt he had to mention, quite often, that he was a trained, successful homicide investigator. Who was he trying to convince? And does that mean taking what he says at face value?

There are quite a few photos and documents included in the book. Unfortunately, the rendering is so poor as to make many of them useless.

He's probably on to something, not because he says so, but because he's presented his case to others in the District Attorney's office and the police department(s) that agree with him. ( )

How does one review a murder case laid out so cooly and efficiently, it is almost like watching it happen in real time?
Steve Hodel is a retired L.A.P.D. detective, but it read like he was still on-the-job. Concise, clear, no obfustication about the details. They're all there. Timelines, objective and logical reasoning for events, clear deliniation of "the evidence says" vs supposition, even when supposition is based on evidence.

Y'all gotta read this book just to get into the groove of it. It's like Steve Hodel transformed into Sherlock Holmes (hmmm, they even have the same initials!). Beautifully put together despite the utter tradgedy that befell these women, and Elizabeth Short herself.

The second half of this book, which covers more probable victims, and is definitely slightly more gory and detailed than the first half, is certainly more difficult to get through. But the first half, concerning primarily the murder of Elizabeth Short, known as "The Black Dahlia", is detailed but not crude, and is the most important part of the manuscript. The end chapters are also incredibly revealing, but more about the state of the L.A.P.D. force than the murder. But *everything* is necessary.

10/10. ( )

We need a subgenre of the true crime genre; it would be called the ratting out one's close relative as an infamous serial killer subgenre. I read this but never saw smoking gun type evidence against the author's father. Since its Los Angeles based I asked Michael Connelly about it when he was here on a book tour. He said he believed it but his LAPD detective buddies did not. Then Hodel published another book that revealed his father was also the Zodiac Killer. So there you have it. Does giving no stars register as a rating? ( )

Interesting and entertaining read. Retired Los Angeles policeman claims to have solved this intriguing 1947 unsolved Los Angles murder. He presents a good argument that his father, the County Health Director was a serial killer, and that Elizabeth Short was just one of his victims. While he presents a good circumstantial case, I suspect a good defense attorney could rebut everything. Probably this is not the final word on this case. ( )

Steve Hodel, an LAPD detective, believes that his dad was the Black Dahlia murderer. I read this book in one sitting at Barnes and Noble and felt covered with a scrim of evil for the rest of the day. (And I mean that actually as a compliment.) Steve Hodel's dad was evil, and evil is fascinating (even if abhorrent). Even more compelling is the case Mr. Hodel makes for [b:the Black Dahlia|21704|The Black Dahlia|James Ellroy|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167323078s/21704.jpg|434] murder having been patterned after surrealist art, especially in re the myth of the minotaur. ( )

I forgot about this book but I was alredy wondering if I had missed a book cause I was missing 2 days of reading.
Alas I remember now. I spend 2 days reading this at night but after a while I gave up. The writing is not bad but it just did not interest me as much. I decided I could just as well read online why Mister Hodel thinks his dad was the dahlia killer.

This is likely the true story although it has still not been proven, updated in 2012 with more evidence to Link George Hodel to the murder.

This was a book that someone left in the hallway of an apartment bldg I lived in, when I first moved to Philadelphia. It is so addicting and very fascinating. A quick read and makes a good case for the writers claim that his father was the killer. ( )

This is so much more than a solution to a sixty-year-old mystery. Yes, the crime has, in my estimation, been solved. Even James Ellroy, whose mother may have been one of the perpetrator's victims, agrees. What is unsettling here is the author's journey through his past as he comes to the realization that the father he held in awe, yet hated for abandoning him and his mother, was a serial adulterer, a corrupt abortionist and, not least, one of the century's most heinous serial killers. Gripping. ( )

Very compelling argument for the Black Dahlia killer. Steve Hodel did some very intriguing investigative work linking several circumstancial instances surrounding the Black Dahlia killing and his father. It is even more compeling that this case was never solved and how much of this case could easily have fit the profile of the killer that the author has set here for you. ( )

It was a great read however the author's claims that his father is responsible for the unsolved murder aka "The Black Dahlia" is pure conjecture. His claims have no basis or foundation of fact and his claims are sometimes outlandish. If you are unfamiliar with the Black Dahlia case I suggest that you may want to read this book just for background information concerning the actual facts (autopsy reports, photos etc...) of the crime and everything else seems to be the work of an over active imagination! ( )

A very interesting book, especially if, like me, you happen to be rather intriged by the Black Dahlia murder. It all began after the death of the author's father. His stepmother gave him a small photo album and in it were two photos of a woman Steve didn't recognize. They did, however, jog something in his memory. He was eventually reminded of the Black Dahlia. Personally, I don't think the photos are of Elizabeth Short, and since the book was originally published, the author has admitted that perhaps they aren't her--it could have been the photo of the woman with flowers in her dark hair that sparked that memory. But those photos started Steve Hodel on a rather horrifying journey--one that may indeed be correct in his conclusion that his father killed not only Elizabeth Short but some other women as well.

I did find some of his logic a little out of left field (hey, where the hell did THAT idea come from), but from what I understand cops do have a bit of intuition they rely on. And Hodel was a cop in the LAPD for many years. It's some of the stuff that was uncovered after the publication of the hardcover that gave me the creeps though (well, that and the incest trial, and Dr. Hodel's original admission that he did molest his daughter). It turns out that Dr. George Hodel was in fact one of the prime suspects in the Black Dahlia case and two other murders--something Steve didn't know when he was reasearching and writing the book. There were wiretapped conversations recorded--and it wasn't just the phone line that was tapped--there were bugs in the entire house. At one point he is heard to say something to the effect of: "Supposing I did kill the Dahlia? They can't prove it now. My secretary is dead." (He was suspected of killing his secretary as well.)

It all leads to a cover-up. The LAPD was extremely corrupt back in '47 and the following years. Dr. Hodel was the head of Hollywood's VD clinics. Lots of names of both cops and Hollywood elite would have turned up. The file that was kept at the police department turns out to have been "sanitized"--a lot of what should have been there was missing and only found through DA files of the grand jury investigation. The grand jury that was convened in '49 repeatedly heard reference to a "wealthy Hollywood man." And while that description fits numerous people, Hodel certainly seems to have a bit more evidence against him. It was said he was a skilled surgeon in med school. And he left the country in 1950, when it was looking like there might be a move against him (that is speculation, of course, but the evidence was growing).

What I find confusing and disturbing, though, is that the cop currently assigned to the case has neither read Hodel's book nor looked at the file for any of the evidence Hodel presented to the LAPD after the book was published. After being told that he should do so. It does bother me. One thing to look and not find anything. Another to look and find it was a major, horrible cover-up--but that wouldn't reflect on the LAPD of today. But to not check at all? It's kind of creepy. ( )