the black dahila

by james mcellroy

Unknown Binding

Reviews

[Annie ˖ ࣪✦: * ˚ ✦ · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m genuinely so confused on what I’m reading!! Dnf. 😞

[Floyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

I normally will read 2 or 3 books at a time. As soon as I started The Black Dahila, I hadn't picked up anything else. Set in post war Los Angeles, like the rest of the LA Quartet series, the story focuses on a particularly horrific murder and investigation surrounding it. Far from a garden variety procedural story, Black Dahila is a deep dive into the very personal trauma of all the characters impacted by the murder. From the victim, to the detectives detailed to the investigation (Ellroy focuses on two in particular) and to the women in those detectives' lives. Again, modern day readers may be jarred by the racism and sexism so casually prevalent in the story. I would argue that 21st century humans aren't any more evolved that our 1950s counterparts; we just dress up our flaws differently. Ellroy takes all the post war shine off America and takes into lives of deeply flawed and incredibly strong people, some of whom are evil and others who are fighting to find the rightness in their world. Again, great book!