Sunday, August 3, 2014

The Black Dahlia Avenger

Recently completed The Black Dahlia Avenger by Steve Hodel, narrated by Kevin Pierce.  The book was extremely well written and edited.  And very well narrated.  His case for George Hodel as the murderer of Betty Short, the Black Dahlia, is meticulous and compelling.  It is also persuasive.  The introduction is particularly essential.  In it Steve describes his relationship with his father, which was distant, but cordial, and seemingly free of any deep seated animosity, but redolent of a 19th Century relationship--very not close emotionally.  More like a soldier addressing his commanding officer.  They professed love, but I really detected more of a mutual respect for one another's existence.  Not quite familial love, not in the way I define it.  However, it is meant to put the remainder of the book into this context--Steve had no axe to grind with his father when he began investigating his father's involvement in the Black Dahlia slaying; which did not commence until after his father's death.

Steve Hodel is a former LA PD homicide detective and so he has the chops when it comes to homicide investigation.  He begins with the known facts of the case; timings, locations, witnesses to Betty Short's final weeks of life.  Then he begins to extrapolate the evidence, and connect events