Black Dahlia Avenger III

"An absorbing, thought-provoking, and insightful read from beginning to end, Black Dahlia Avenger III is an extraordinary study and one that will be an enduringly popular addition to community and academic library Criminology collections, as well as the personal reading lists of all True Crime buffs."
—Midwest Book Review

Praise for Steve Hodel

"Mesmerizing. Black Dahlia Avenger II takes us deeper into George Hodel's unusual avant-garde circle of friends."
—Gerald Petievich, Author of To Live and Die in LA and The Sentinel

"Steve Hodel presents his case with fascinating details and revelatioons that trace through the darkest side of Hollywood noir in this sequel to his original Black Dahlia Avenger.
—Ron Francell, Bestselling true-crime author of The Darkest Night

Praise for Black Dahlia Avenger

“Completely convincing . . . As far as I am concerned, this case is closed."
—Michael Connelly, bestselling author of the Harry Bosch series

“The most haunting murder mystery in Los Angeles county during the twentieth century has finally been solved."
—Stephen R. Kay, L.A. County Head Deputy District Attorney

“A must-read book . . . A blockbuster.”
—Liz Smith, New York Post

"Crime was rampant as musicals in Los Angeles in the postwar years—this is the age of Bugsy Siegel, the founding of Las Vegas, Mickey Cohen and gun battles on Sunset Boulevard….and it’s the age of film noir….George Hodel, I think is fit company for some of noir’s most civilized villains—like Waldo Lydecker in Laura, Harry Lime in The Third Man, or even Noah Cross in Chinatown."
—David Thomson, New York Times Book Review

"[Steve Hodel] gives us a fascinating family psychodrama; we watch his image of his father morph from flawed but lovable ladies' man to monster."
—Newsweek

“Fascinating.”
—Johnny Depp

"[Hodel] has written an intensely readable account….So what’s the final verdict on Black Dahlia Avenger? Its accounts of cover-ups and civic corruption are all too believable, and much of the circumstantial evidence it presents against George Hodel is persuasive….Has Steve Hodel solved the case? I think so."
—Jon L. Breen, The Weekly Standard

"The book has been described as ‘Hannibal Lecter meets L.A. Confidential meets Chinatown,’ but even that Hollywood characterization doesn’t do it justice. Former Los Angeles police detective Steve Hodel has written one of the most compelling true-crime books of all time."
—Seattle Weekly

"An ex-L.A. cop uncovers a painful answer to the notorious 1947 Black Dahlia slaying...Hodel appears to have solved one of the most sensational murders in the history of Los Angeles."
—People Magazine

"[Hodel] makes a strong case that the Black Dahlia was part of a larger series of ritual murders that went on for years. This unsparing, chilling account of the actions of a perfect psychopath grips to the end."
—Toronto Globe and Mail

"Hodel tells the story well and with incredible objectivity. . . A real-life tale of a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde."
—Richmond Times-Dispatch

"This remarkable book will keep readers riveted from the first page to the very last."
—Citizen

"In this 2003 case study, Hodel declares the case is solved. He offers irrefutable evidence piled fact upon fact as only the mind of a professional detective can present. The Black Dahlia Avenger is packaged as neatly as a court deposition."
—St. Augustine Record

"Black Dahlia Avenger is a fascinating and horrifying tale of 1940s Los Angeles-as Steve Hodel says, a real-life L.A. Confidential."
—San Jose Mercury News

"The story boasts all the glamour and sinister mystique of film noir."
—The Daily Telegraph

"Readers must hang on tightly as Hodel hurtles along on his compelling parallel journeys of discovery—a return to the melodramatic days of old Hollywood and a simultaneous plunge into the dark roots of his own family tree."
—London Free Press