Not really worth reading. The author seems really pissed off that Steve Hodel has scooped her with his excellent books about this case which prove beyond a reasonable doubt that his father did it.

I’ve avoided books on Betty Short since I read James Ellroy’s novel about ten years ago. However, this was brilliantly paced and informative and really made the case feel more real - not like the glamourised versions of the story.

This book was... fine. Eatwell is clearly extremely biased (possibly rightfully so) and is respectful to the victims and families. But overall the tone sounds like she’s constantly trying for “dun dun DUUNNN” chapter endings, which gets old. Interesting info and she for sure did her due diligence. I think I prefer a more professional journalistic tone in my true crime. Jeff Guinn, for example, saves his opinions for the final chapter of his true crime/historical books.

This book is fine, it's exhaustively researched and very detailed, but I discovered it was more than I needed to know. I found my attention wandering here quite often. Which is sort of surprising, because first, I live in LA, so this a LOCAL worldwide famous case. And I read a lot of true crime, so I don't know why I didn't already know more than I did about it. I think the problem is that the murder remains unsolved. And it seems that there is little consensus among those who have investigated this case as to the identity of the killer. Also, there are so many fictionalized versions of this story, it's easy to get confused as to what are the cold hard facts, and what is legend. Another review suggests one should just read Elizabeth Short's Wikipedia page and you will get basically the same info, with less time expended. I did, and I agree.

If what this author writes is true, and I have no reason to believe that she fabricated evidence, then the corruption of the LA police department and/or DA's office and/or morgue and/or crime labs at the time of this investigation was beyond the pale. Inept, corrupt, careless, sloppy, and just plain bizarre. I have been fascinated by this case since I learned of it years ago, and there were things in this book that were not in any other book or magazine article I have read about it. This was a well-written, fascinating account of the investigation of the murder of Elizabeth Short that reads almost like a novel. At the end of the book, you might know who committed the murder, but there are so many more "bad guys", that you are not sure who should get blamed.

Full of factual inaccuracies, this "solution" is insanely convoluted and names as the killer a man known to have been in San Francisco at the time of the murder. On the other hand, it's far, far better and makes more sense than either "Daddy Was The Black Dahlia Killer" or "Black Dahlia Avenger"

This is the second book I’ve read this year about the murder of Elizabeth Short and it was the better one by far. Eatwell has, surprisingly given how little has been squeezed out of the LAPD and DA’s office over the years, unearthed a few new pieces of information that are both enlightening and deepen the mystery. I was riveted.

An amazing read. Passionate, well written and I now can figure out with thorough research done by the author who killed Elizabeth Short. Excellent book!