The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy

Author: James Ellroy 

Title: The Black Dhalia 

Publisher: Penguin 

Published: 1987

Pages: 338

Genre: Noir Thriller 

     Los Angeles, 15th January 1947. A beautiful young woman walks into the night and meets a horrific destiny. Five days later, her tortured body is found drained of blood and cut in half. The newspapers call her 'The Black Dahlia'. For two cops, what begins as an investigation becomes a hellish journey that takes them to the core of the dead girl's twisted life.

     If I'm being honest I've been putting off reading this book for a very long time. I greatly enjoyed the film when it first came out getting wrapped up not only in the case but also in the whole Noir vibe to it. Also as a fan of true crime of course I had read about the real case before ever hearing about either the film or this book. Now obviously most people who are into crime fiction probably know about this and Ellroy's L.A Confidential.  He is after all a titan in the field of crime fiction especially 50's L.A. So I figured it was probably about time I should put away my hang-ups about this book and see just how different it is to the film. Because to be fair I don't think anyone has made a faithful adaptation of an Ellroy work. What could possibly go wrong?

     So not entirely unsurprising the characters here feel way more fleshed out than the film gives them credit for. He has however created characters that are not really all that likable but do at least feel very true to the time period. And there is something appealing about that. Ellroy really doesn't care whether we like his characters they are there to tell the story he has set out. And I suppose here this is him trying to tell his version of events that really took place to some extent or another. By placing us in the hand of Buck and Lee though we are definitely given two grizzled characters that seem very determined mostly to their own detriment. He shows us how there is a fine line between wanting to solve a case and becoming so obsessed with it that it's going to eat you alive. I feel that this is one of the few examples where a writer seems to have captured these emotions so very well. But then I guess this book is more of a character study, he cares about seeing his heroes torture themselves over and over again in pursuit of the truth. And despite all the odds you want to see them solve the murder. Maybe more so as it was never done so in real life. 

     So whilst knowing the plot going in would seem like a drawback I think for me there really was enough difference to keep it feeling fresh and new to me.  But the Dahlia is most definitely a dark and twisted tale and the author pulls no punch. I mean it's slightly difficult to sugarcoat a real murder especially one that was as brutal as this. But even so, he seems to drag us into this dark and sweaty world that you kinda want to pull your eyes away from. If for nothing else but to grab a breath of fresh air from all that you are witnessing. The pace seems relentless and he keeps pushing us onward from the first page. So it's definitely an interesting book to read from that perspective as at no point is a line or a word put to waste. It's part of what makes Ellroy's style so unique to him. Someone could show you a few lines from his book and without being told I feel you would know it was one of his. but I seem to be getting away from myself. I think so far the Dahlia is probably the darkest of his books that I have read and I can see why so many people have raved about it for so long. It shows that his mastery of crime tales knows no bounds. 

     In reading The Black Dahlia it has only reinforced my love of this writer. It is so easy to get wrapped up in his work despite its brutal and harsh tones. He has a way of using murders to ask deeper questions about the world we live in. And in the case of this book, I think he does present us with an explanation for the murder that seems plausible to most of us. So in conclusion I would say having seen the film first did reading this no harm there a parts here that only expand on the universe and also help to make other parts make more sense.