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The Black Dahlia: The first book in the classic L.A. Quartet crime series Paperback – 1 August 2011

4.2 out of 5 stars 3,930 ratings

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A neo-noir crime novel from the legendary crime novelist James Ellroy.

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.

And soon professional curiosity spirals into obsession...
__________

'A mesmerising study of the psycho-sexual obsession... extraordinarily well written' -
The Times
'The outstanding crime writer of his generation' -
The Independent
'A wonderful tale of ambition, insanity, passion and deceit' -
Publishers Weekly
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Product description

Review

A mesmerising study of the psycho-sexual obsession . . . extraordinarily well written ― The Times

One of those rare, brilliantly written books you want to press on other people ―
Time Out

A wonderful tale of ambition, insanity, passion and deceit ―
Publishers Weekly

A unique voice in American crime writing ―
Sunday Telegraph

The outstanding crime writer of his generation ―
The Independent

Book Description

A neo-noir crime novel from the legendary crime novelist James Ellroy.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0099537869
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ WINDMILL BOOKS
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ 1 August 2011
  • Edition ‏ : ‎ 1st
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780099537861
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0099537861
  • Item weight ‏ : ‎ 266 g
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 12.4 x 2.3 x 19.6 cm
  • Part of series ‏ : ‎ L. A. Quartet
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 out of 5 stars 3,930 ratings

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Top reviews from Australia

  • Reviewed in Australia on 7 May 2014
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    I am fascinated with the era and location of the series of books. I previously read L.A Confidential and I am a little out of order but the capturing of the times is spot on. The characters are all flawed in some way and when you read about the racism and homophobia it makes you realise how far we have come. I thoroughly recomend this book.
  • Reviewed in Australia on 3 March 2021
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    I like the old school noir rough n tumble characters and scenes. The writing style is strong/bold with lots of archaic slang which makes me wonder how people coped reading this pre internet. Also the writing is reasonably tight which helps keep up the tension and the pages turning. It's a bit chaotic at times but the post war era setting manages to keep things grounded.
    2 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in Australia on 12 September 2024
    Format: Paperback
    The Black Dahlia was the book that started Ellroy onto his road to greatness in crime fiction. It is a really dark and brooding look at late 1940's LA and the search for the Black Dahlia killer.

    I will admit that the early signs of Ellroy's decline were also in this book, in my opinion he gets a bit convoluted at times and his later books were so dense that I found them unreadable - I will be trying them again in the near future so maybe my thoughts have changed in the last decade.

    Ellroy is a master of creating psychological damage in characters and making them find a sense of purpose at the possible risk to their mental psyche.
    One person found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in Australia on 13 February 2021
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Classic Ellroy. Though a far-fetched outcome for a real historical 1947 murder
    One person found this helpful
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  • Valeria
    5.0 out of 5 stars Schwierig, aber lohnend
    Reviewed in Germany on 4 April 2015
    Verified Purchase
    Eigentlich mag ich keine Cop-Thriller und der Ellroy machte mir den Einstieg ziemlich schwer mit jener künstlichen und für Uneingeweihte kaum verständlichen Cop-Sprache, die wohl nur in Romanen und Filmen existiert. Aber der Ruf des Romans ließ mich durchhalten und ich wurde am Ende dafür belohnt. Ellroy zog mich immer mehr in den Bann des Geheimnisses um den Mord an Elizabeth Short, das dramaturgisch geschickt nach und nach aufgedeckt wird. Für das Opfer Elisabeth Short entwickelte ich immer mehr Mitleid, bis zu den für mich kaum mehr erträglichen Szenen ihrer Folterung. Auch die sonstigen Figuren überzeugen und die Auflösung, die versierte Krimileser wohl schon ziemlich bald ahnen, ist stimmig.

    Ich habe mich danach an anderen Ellory-Romanen versucht, bin aber nach wenigen Seiten gescheitert. Der stets schwierige Schreibstil des Autors wird dort nicht wie hier aufgewogen durch eine intensive, dunkle und berührende Geschichte. Also: Ellroy ist allgemein wohl nichts für jedermann, aber hier ist die Story einfach zu gut, um sie nicht gelesen zu haben, und alle Elemente, auch die für ihn typische Sprache und Erzählweise tragen zur ungeheuer dichten Atmosphäre bei.
    Report
  • Wayne Wall
    5.0 out of 5 stars Hard to put down
    Reviewed in Canada on 14 March 2021
    Verified Purchase
    This is the first time I read James Ellroy. I have become a fan, great writer. He has a great knack for bringing impossible characters to life.
  • Rocco T.
    5.0 out of 5 stars un viaje acido
    Reviewed in Spain on 5 February 2019
    Verified Purchase
    mitica como la pelicula un viaje
  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
    Reviewed in Japan on 4 February 2019
    Verified Purchase
    Great book
  • reader 451
    5.0 out of 5 stars Noir revival
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 December 2010
    Verified Purchase
    Can pastiche be as good as the original product? The Black Dahlia proves that it can. This is a great thriller in its own right: set in L.A., it has the dream team of Lee Blanchard and Bucky Bleichert, two cops from the warrants bureau and both ex-boxers, investigate the torture and murder of a wannabe starlet and vamp (the 'black dahlia'). The investigation soon runs out of control, threatening to wreck the lives and sanity of our heroes, and the dream team isn't quite the dream team anyway. Twists and turns uncover corrupt cops, malevolent witnesses, and a wealth of sub-plots and wild goose chases that all but stamp out the killer's trace. The Black Dahlia never flags, however, and its last chapters are worthy of their elaborate setting up.

    At the same time, there is no denying this is pastiche: neo-noir, the echo of a genre that flourished in the 1930-1950s. The novel is set just after WWII, 40 years before the date of its writing. It takes place in an L.A. that is again a hotpot of both glamour and vice. And it uses that same mix of hard-nosed pessimism, courage, and humanity that made Hammett's and Chandler's heroes. There are also differences. While Ellroy's style doesn't have the staccato of later novels such as American Tabloid, it is direct, eschewing Chandler's lushly ironic imagery. There is more violence and it is more graphic, especially the dahlia's gruesome murder. The sex scenes are too explicit to have been written in the 1940s. And the dahlia herself is more of a tramp, a more pathetic figure than were classic noir heroines. Nevertheless, if you have run out of Chandler to read, this is the way to go.