Makes for a great Valentine's Day read. A window to the past, makes me wanna watch a Noir movie. And I totally believe the author's conclusion in this case!

“Elizabeth, Betty, Bette, Beth, Gilda, the martyr, the angel, the whore, the icon. Elizabeth Short...”

Black Dahlia Red Rose by Piu Eatwell is a re-examination of the Black Dahlia murder. The book looks at gripping new evidence to solve the seventy year old mystery of America’s most famous crime.

Now over the years I’ve read and seen a lot of different conflicting angles on the murder case of Elizabeth Short. What has always baffled me is why nobody was charged with her brutal murder.

This book lays out the case from the very beginning up until the author’s finding from last year. I found this to be a very clear cut presentation of the case. There are key facts and evidence which is discussed and theories followed throughout the years uncovering some crazy allegations against the police and the people who were last in touch with Elizabeth Short.

The account is easy to follow and some very interesting points I hadn’t picked up before are mentioned in this book. Whilst reading it I at times forgot this really happened. The brutal and public murder of a woman who had so many ties to so many people was gripping to follow to find out what the conclusion was.

The FBI still class this as an unsolved murder but with the evidence discussed it’s pretty obvious who it was and the failing of justice is bizarre and shocking to read through. The author does an excellent job in presenting the case from all angles for the reader. There were other cases loosely linked to this one which I had no idea about. I gained a lot of information with ties to the mob and famous celebrities in Hollywood at that time in 1940s.

A very gripping and interesting read. I managed to devour it in one sitting 🙈 I wish this book was out before I went to LA and had seen the Aster Motel, the sight of the Black Dahlia Murder. What’s creepy is I stayed at The Biltmore Hotel 👀

For content this book should get a 4 or 5 star rating but for writing style it should only get a 1 or 2 so I have to compromise.

Piu Eatwell brings some very interesting new information to the Dahlia tome and make a very good case for who the murders were. Unfortunately, she has this super annoying habit of putting a footnote on everything. If she mentions a newspaper clipping on paper 85 there is a footnote saying it will be discussed in more detail on page 150. Then on page 150 there is a footnote saying this is the clipping she was referring to on page 85.

Also, and here I know I am being nit-picky, there is a detective named Harry "the Hat" Hansen. every single time the author refers to him she says Harry "the Hat". It was very annoying.

A great true crime book written by a woman, which is always a recipe for a winner for me. I appreciated Eatwell's attention to detail, her efforts to flesh out the mysterious Elizabeth Short as much as possible, and her commitment to following the facts. To me, it is an incredibly well-reasoned argument for who the murderer really was, and an excellent snapshot of LA at this particular time. The mythologizing around the Black Dahlia will probably never die, nor will it be "solved," but I hope that writers with Eatwell's talent and dogged commitment keep badgering the LAPD for the records until the public finally has all the information. I will be surprised if/when these records are released if they do not add up to confirming Eatwell's theories.

Lots of facts, great investigation, but it wasn't exactly a page turner.