Elizabeth Short was murdered and her case is still unsolved. On January 15th of 1947, in the early morning hours, her bisected body was found on South Norton Avenue in Los Angeles. But very quickly her life was overshadowed by her mysterious death, the speculation about her character, and the moniker that she was posthumously given, “The Black Dahlia.” The story of her death has been covered and sensationalized for years and has focused on the myth of a woman instead of the reality of her person. And the reality of Elizabeth Short is so much more than the horrible death that befell her.
Buy The Black Dahlia: Murder, Monsters, and Madness in Midcentury HollywoodIn his new book, The Black Dahlia: Murder, Monsters, and Madness in Midcentury Hollywood, author William J. Mann not only explores the death of the Black Dahlia but the life of Elizabeth Short and the societal and cultural contexts that shaped her life, her death, and the subsequent police investigation into it all.
Mann spent more than five years researching this new book and it is evident in every page. I truly think that this might become the new definitive work on this case. Unlike other coverage of this murder where the players and Elizabeth Short come across as one-dimensional caricatures, Mann not only introduces us to Elizabeth and to the players but tells us about their lives. They are not just extras in a film noir or a true-crime rag, they are flesh and blood people in these pages. I was especially impressed by the way Mann approached and recounted the life, loves, and foibles of Elizabeth Short. He works diligently to keep her at the center of this book and of this case, even when those involved failed to do so.
In addition to the humanity that Mann brings to these pages, he also writes through the lens of American Studies, the how and why of American history and culture. His attention and understanding of the cultural, historical, and societal contexts of the years of Short’s life and the years after her death play their own parts in this story. Issues of gender and class deeply shaped Elizabeth Short’s life, and Mann explores these concepts well and not in a heavy-handed way. He also gives us a good understanding of how much was not understood about crime and psychology during the 1940s and how much of this case may have been derailed by those who claimed to be experts in fields that were new to so many.
And while I will not spoil the end of this book and share the conclusions Mann comes to in the end, I will tell you that he takes us through a well-thought-out elimination of suspects. Whether his thoughts on this case prove to be true is still to be seen, but I was satisfied by his thoughts on this horrific crime.
Mann is an acclaimed author, and it is easy to see why. At almost 400 pages, I was truly engrossed in The Black Dahlia: Murder, Monsters, and Madness in Midcentury Hollywood, from the beginning to the end. This book is definitely a work that will not only be widely read, but perhaps also taught in classrooms.
The Black Dahlia: Murder, Monsters, and Madness in Midcentury Hollywood by William J. Mann is published by Simon and Schuster and is available wherever you get your books.
