James Ellroy: Black Dahlia (USA 2025)

From the Publisher:
The first novel in The L.A. Quartet. The Black Dahlia is the haunting and harrowing book that put James Ellroy on the map as one of the most electrifying writers on the scene.

On January 15, 1947, the brutally mutilated body of Elizabeth Short is found in a vacant lot. The victim makes headlines as the Black Dahlia, the center of a media frenzy and cultural fixation.

Caught up in the investigation are two young cops, Dwight "Bucky" Bleichert and Lee Blanchard, partners in uniform and in the boxing ring. But the deeper they get, the greater their obsession with the Dahlia becomes. As the two men go rogue and hunt for the killer, they are drawn into the hellish underbelly of 1940s Hollywood, into the victim's twisted past, and into the extremes of their own desires -- a land of demons and madness.

Inspired by America's most infamous unsolved murder, James Ellroy's The Black Dahlia is a classic work of crime fiction that will haunt its readers long after the last page.

James Ellroy: Black Dahlia. Vintage Books, ISBN: 9798217007844 (August, 2025), 384 p., $18.00.

James Ellroy: Black Dahlia (UK 2011)

From the Publisher:
Los Angeles, 15th January 1947: a beautiful young woman walked into the night and met her horrific destiny.
Five days later, her tortured body was found drained of blood and cut in half. The newspapers called her 'The Black Dahlia'. Two cops are caught up in the investigation and embark on a hellish journey that takes them to the core of the dead girl's twisted life...

James Ellroy: Black Dahlia. Windmill Books, ISBN: 9780099537861 (June, 2011), 384 p., £8.99.

James Ellroy: Black Dahlia (UK 2006)

From the Publisher:
Los Angeles, 1th January 1947: a beautiful young woman walked into the night and met her horrific destiny.

Five days later, her tortured body was found drained of blood and cut in helf. The newspapers called her 'The Black Dahlia'. Two cops are caught up in the investigation and embark on a hellish journey that takes them to the core of the dead girl's twisted life.

James Ellroy: Black Dahlia. Arrow, ISBN: 0099498537 (September, 2006), 397 p., £6.99.

James Ellroy: Black Dahlia (USA 2006)

From the Publisher:
On January 15, 1947, the torture-ravished body of a beautiful young woman is found in a Los Angeles vacant lot. The victim makes headlines as the Black Dahlia -- and so begins the greatest manhunt in California history.Caught up in the investigation are Bucky Bleichert and Lee Blanchard: Warrants Squad cops, friends, and rivals in love with the same woman. But both are obsessed with the Dahlia -- driven by dark needs to know everything about her past, to capture her killer, to possess the woman even in death.

James Ellroy: Black Dahlia. Warner Books, ISBN: 0446618128 (September, 2006), 371 p., $7.50.

James Ellroy: Black Dahlia (USA 2006)

From the Publisher:
On January 15, 1947, the torture-ravished body of a beautiful young woman is found in a Los Angeles vacant lot. The victim makes headlines as the Black Dahlia -- and so begins the greatest manhunt in California history.Caught up in the investigation are Bucky Bleichert and Lee Blanchard: Warrants Squad cops, friends, and rivals in love with the same woman. But both are obsessed with the Dahlia -- driven by dark needs to know everything about her past, to capture her killer, to possess the woman even in death.

James Ellroy: Black Dahlia. Warner Books, ISBN: 0446698873 (August, 2006), 337 p., $13.99.

James Ellroy: Black Dahlia (USA 2006)

From the Publisher:
On January 15, 1947, the torture-ravished body of a beautiful young woman is found in a Los Angeles vacant lot. The victim makes headlines as the Black Dahlia -- and so begins the greatest manhunt in California history.

Caught up in the investigation are Bucky Bleichert and Lee Blanchard: Warrants Squad cops, friends, and rivals in love with the same woman. But both are obsessed with the Dahlia -- driven by dark needs to know everything about her past, to capture her killer, to possess the woman even in death. Their quest will take them on a hellish journey through the underbelly of postwar Hollywood, to the core of the dead gir's twisted life, past the extremes of their own psyches -- into a region of total madness.

James Ellroy: Black Dahlia. Mysterious Press, ISBN: 9780739473603 (January, 2006), 337 p., $13.99.

James Ellroy: Black Dahlia (UK 1993)

From the Publisher:
On January 15, 1947, the torture-ravished body of a beautiful young woman is found in a vacant lot. The victim makes headlines as the Black Dahlia-and so begins the greatest manhunt in California history. Caught up in the investigation are Bucky Bleichert and Lee Blanchard. Both are obsessed with the Dahlia-driven by dark needs to know everything about her past, to capture her killer, to possess the woman even in death. Their quest will take them on a hellish journey through the underbelly of postwar Hollywood, to the core of the dead girl's twisted life, past the extremes of their own psyches-into a region of total madness.

James Ellroy: Black Dahlia. Arrow, ISBN: 0099366517 (January, 1993), 382 p., £5.99.

James Ellroy: Black Dahlia (UK 1989)

From the Publisher:
A novel based on Hollywood's most notorious murder case
On the night of 10 January 1947, a beautiful young woman walked out of the Los Angeles Biltmore - and set off to meet her horrific destiny. Five days later her body was found on a vacant building lot - drained of blood and cut in half. The newspapers called her The Black Dahlia, and her appalling murder sparked off the greatest manhunt in California's history.

Caught up in the investigation are Bucky Bleichert and Lee Blanchard: fellow cops and rivals-in-love. Both become obsessed by the Black Dahlia - and they embark on a hellish journey that takes them through the underbelly of postwar Hollywood. Right to the murky core of the dead girl's twisted life.

James Ellroy: Black Dahlia. Mysterious Press, ISBN: 0099498103 (September, 1989), 396 p., £3.50.

James Ellroy: Black Dahlia (USA 1988)

From the Publisher:
On January 15, 1947, the torture-ravished body of a beautiful young woman is found in a Los Angeles vacant lot. The victim makes headlines as the Black Dahlia -- and so begins the greatest manhunt in California history.

Caught up in the investigation are Bucky Bleichert and Lee Blanchard: Warrants Squad cops, friends, and rivals in love with the same woman. But both are obsessed with the Dahlia -- driven by dark needs to know everything about her past, to capture her killer, to possess the woman even in death. Their quest will take them on a hellish journey through the underbelly of postwar Hollywood, to the core of the dead gir's twisted life, past the extremes of their own psyches -- into a region of total madness.

James Ellroy: Black Dahlia. Mysterious Press, ISBN: 0445405252 (September, 1988), 358 p., $4.95.