Black Dahlia Avenger

The True Story

By: Steve Hodel

Narrated by: Kevin Pierce

Length: 19 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

For 56 years, the Black Dahlia murder case remained one of the most notorious and high-profile unsolved crimes of the 20th century. Now, Steve Hodel, a 24-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department, believes he has finally solved the case. On January 15, 1947, 22-year-old Elizabeth Short - "The Black Dahlia" - was found dead in a vacant lot in Los Angeles, her body horribly mutilated, bisected at the waist, and posed in a bizarre manner. The horrific crime shocked the country and commanded headlines for months as the killer taunted the police with notes and phone calls. Despite the massive manhunt, the murderer was never found.

Hodel began working on the case after he retired from the LAPD when he chanced upon an intriguing piece of evidence that led him on a trail that he had no choice but to follow - since it pertained directly to him. As he dug deeper, he came to believe that the killer was also responsible for over a dozen other unsolved murders in the Los Angeles area around the same time. He also found copious evidence of corruption at the LAPD, leading him to accuse the department top brass of covering up the Black Dahlia murder in order to conceal a deeper conspiracy involving crooked politicians and gangsters.

Despite a lack of physical evidence (which had been destroyed), Hodel is able to connect numerous dots and make a plausible case, complete with lurid tales of wild orgies that were attended by celebrities such as the artist Man Ray, the director John Huston, and a host of other Hollywood elites. He also discloses his killer’s obsession with the Marquis de Sade and Jack the Ripper and how he modeled his own crimes on their behavior. In particular, there is a disturbing connection between the work of Man Ray and the horrific circumstances of Short’s murder. It is doubtful that this will be the final word on the Black Dahlia murder - too much myth surrounds it and much of his evidence is circumstantial - but Hodel’s labyrinthine tale adds much to this intriguing case.

©2003, 2011 Steve Hodel (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

great book

wow, he did as thurough of a job as one can expect. when he went into his conspiracy i thought "you lost me!" but then he had decently compelling evidence even on that...well done! i consider it solved.

really amazing

really amazing jam packed with info he makes a compelling case against his father I do think he has or had some memories he couldnt explan and that's what started all of this

Thorough!

Having been interested in the Black Dahlia murder since seeing several documentaries and movies about Elizabeth Short, I wanted to read Steve Hodel's book concerning his father George Hill Hodel as her murderer. I believe he made his case.

CAn we say horrid?

This is such a conglomeration of conjecture and making pieces fit together that it's so unlikely that it happened that it must be true that it did happen. I was waiting all through the book for one "nail in the coffin" and there just isn't one. Disappointed that it really is conjecture and coincidence; disappointed in so many police/law enforcement officers being so lax and downright evil. I almost quit listening several times because there's just nothing of consequence there-nothing substantial to build on. The crime itself was horrid but so was everything else in this story except Elizabeth Short who was shortchanged throughout the entire sequence of events.

Fascinating story!

An absolutely compelling story that is tremendously fascinating. It's almost hard to believe that all this ACTUALLY happened. The evidence that Steve Hodel provides definitely has me convinced that George Hodel was the Black Dahlia avenger. If you are fascinating by Elisabeth Short's murder then this book is a MUST read. Only bad thing is the narrator is a little too dry in my opinion. He reads with no energy, and reminds me of the most boring high school teacher you might have had. However, the content is very interesting and kept me going all the way through.

Incredible but..

Intriguing story but I could do without the 1.5 times a chapter it digresses into him describing what a physical and intellectual specimen his dad was. Like we got it from the first hundred adjectives you used, I don’t need it reiterated.

Steve Hodell

the detective Steve hodell made a complete research on his own father George hodel as a Black Dahlia murder. His detective skills show a great amount of effort to prove that his father was the killer of the Black Dahlia

Overall very interesting

Overall very infesting but I felt like I was being told a story by my uncle got grandfather. Narration seem unenthusiastic but this is largely due to the writing style being more a verbal summary or lecture.,

Enjoyable and Intriguing

I enjoyed listening to Steve Hodel’s “BLACK DAHLIA AVENGER” and the author combs over lots of police evidence, news reports, eye witness accounts and provides the listener with the details behind this horrid murder.

If you’re not familiar with the crime, a woman with her child going to the store one afternoon in the late 1940s in Los Angeles, CA, came across a gruesome sight: a nude woman’s body was cut in half and displayed in a vacant lot. It was the body of Elizabeth Short and the body was completely drained of blood, her mouth was slit open at the corners giving her face a permanent grin. Autopsy reports revealed that she was tortured before she was murder and beaten about the head and face. To this day the case has not been solved.

Dr. George Hodel was a suspect in the crime and was the author’s father.

Anyway, there’s too much stuff to get into here so just listen to the audible version.

I knocked off one-star because Audible doesn’t provide you with additional downloads like pictures, diagrams, news clippings etc., that are described in the narration. I’m not sure if the physical book has those things in it but it should since the narrator refers to them during one chapter.

compelling book punctuated by hilarious foible 😂

This is the first book I've "read" about the black dahlia. I thought his argument was incredibly convincing and I really liked the narrator overall. I just have 2 little criticisms and then something that gave me a good chuckle....

1. I do find it strange in audio books when narrators mispronounce something and either they or an editor doesn't stop and correct it. However, I have no idea how these things are recorded or if it's just a narrator at home with a mic and computer.

2. Several times I would find myself thinking - "Wait, I swear I've already heard this exact part." because he was repeating some paragraphs from earlier chapters, verbatim

Bonus: The funniest thing though, and this was a first for me, is at the 10:58:15 mark he stops narrating for about 2 seconds and there are three taps in a row that sound like him banging on a keyboard 😆. I know it's not relevant to the actual story... It was just so bizarre.