The unsolved, horrifyingly brazen 1947 murder of 22-year-old Elizabeth Short continues to mystify many. Her nude body, drained of blood, was bisected and left in a vacant Los Angeles lot, with her face slashed into a “Glasgow smile.” While few remember her name, most recognize the sensational label that the media quickly gave her—”The Black Dahlia”—as well as the numerous books, movies and more that have followed.
With Black Dahlia: Murder, Monsters, and Madness in Midcentury Hollywood, William J. Mann dedicates himself to portraying Short as the young woman she really was, while also debunking the myths and conspiracy theories that have blossomed over the decades. As the author of Tinseltown, as well as biographies of Marlon Brando and Katharine Hepburn, midcentury L.A. is a world he knows well.
While sensational journalists portrayed Short as the embodiment of “the corruption, immorality, and shattered lives of America’s dream factory,” Mann says “it’s time we see her less as a femme fatale and more as a Tom Sawyer in ankle-strap shoes.” Proceeding in chronological order, he meticulously describes the discovery of Short’s body and the years of unsuccessful investigations that followed. Writing from a modern perspective, Mann is an able guide, noting “Right from the start, there was victim blaming, the assertion that Elizabeth—Beth—Betty—took the wrong path through life.”
Mann traces the unfortunate evolution of the Black Dahlia moniker, while bringing to life Short’s friends and family, as well as several dedicated detectives who never let the case go. Many fascinating characters surface, including various suspects and an eventually discredited police psychiatrist, Dr. J. Paul de River, whose assertions led investigators down multiple wrong paths. Throughout, Mann’s narrative peels away the sensationalism, offering comments like, “Some elaborate tales have been spun about Betty in Los Angeles before 1946, tales of gangsters and potential killers, but you should pay no attention to them, because they are not true.”
Mann doesn’t pretend to know who murdered Elizabeth Short, but he rules out many and narrows the list to three compelling possibilities. True crime fans will find Black Dahlia to be a comprehensive and, perhaps, definitive guide to one of America’s most enduring mysteries.