The Black Dahlia

The Black Dahlia is a novel written by James Ellroy in 1987 and is the first book in the L.A. Quartet series. It belongs to the noir genre with a story based on real events and consists of 545 pages.

In L.A., the body of a woman is found split in half with brutal signs of torture; within a few days, it becomes the most controversial and famous case in all of North America… our protagonists will try to discover the killer as they enter a demonic spiral of corruption, blood, sex, power, and death.

What I liked most about the book is the thin dividing line between good and evil, which all the characters cross countless times driven by their passions and their deepest fears…; the portrayal of Los Angeles in the 1950s is impressive; the pacing, slow at some points and chaotic at others, makes the reading a true delight. Pay attention to the author's direct and gritty style, it is groundbreaking, macabre, epic. What I liked least was the introduction; I found it a bit… tedious.

I recommend this book to all lovers of the noir genre in general and lovers of classics in particular. (Translated from Spanish)

Just after the end of World War II, the United States tries to return to normal life, but on January 15, 1947, something happens that shocks the entire North American society; in a vacant lot in the city of Los Angeles, a woman walking with her young daughter discovers the horribly mutilated body of a young woman, the wounds and condition of the body are horrifying. This is Elizabeth Short, a 22-year-old woman. Elizabeth had moved to Hollywood with the dream of becoming a famous actress. Detectives Lee Blanchard and Dwight Blecheirt are assigned to the case to try to catch the killer who committed such an atrocity. Both become involved in a series of intrigues, prostitution, money laundering, illegal gambling, violence, and corruption in the underworld of Hollywood. It is an entertaining novel, a bit long and heavy on the introduction, with some passages that add little to the plot, but overall it's acceptable. (Translated from Spanish)

The book was very good, although it had parts that were really boring and unnecessary. However, I did enjoy the story and the characters created by James; I especially loved Lee. (Translated from Spanish)

On January 15, 1947, the naked and bisected body of a young woman appeared on a vacant lot in Los Angeles, which the coroner determined had been tortured for days. Her name was Elizabeth Short. Renamed by newspapers of the time as The Black Dahlia, this most gruesome case in American noir history seemed to implicate the upper echelons of the city, and from this real event, James Ellroy develops his novel, featuring two detectives obsessed with the Black Dahlia and finding her killer. (Translated from Spanish)

Very good. If you like the brutal style and the politically incorrect nature of Ellroy. (Translated from Spanish)

It was a good book, although it had parts that were really boring and unnecessary to the story... But its main plot is very well connected. (Translated from Spanish)