Book Reviewed: Black Dahlia: Murder, Monsters, and Madness in Midcentury Hollywood by William J Mann

Sobbed in terror Elizabeth Short was a young American woman who struck out on her own after the postwar WWII. She wanted to explore the world as a young woman and enjoy for what it is. She was not a proto-feminist or a femme fatale as many previous authors make her to be. She was “Black Dahlia” for them. She left little clues about her personal life. She never gave interviews to the reporters, and left no diaries. There was an address book, and a few letters. Most writers have turned her story over to the detectives and journalists who investigated her murder. This author claims that previous accounts of the murder have been colored by confirmation bias. John Gilmore’s book, “Severed: The True Story of the Black Dahlia Murder” was a non-fiction book but included disputed details, and the Steve Hodel’s books focus on conspiracy with sensational claims. However, author Willam Mann does not name the most likely suspect responsible for her murder, but he believes that his approach shed light on this crime from a different angle. Recommended to readers interested in the history of Hollywood and the life of Black Dahlia.