A review by knowledgelost
My Dark Places by James Ellroy

2.0

My Dark Places is an interesting combination between investigative journalism/true crime and memoir of James Ellroy and his struggle to find answers to the unsolved murder of his mother, Geneva. She did when he was 10 years old and started his love affair with the Black Dahlia case and all things crime related (especially books; beginning with the Hardy boys and moving onto the hard-boiled greats). Needless to say the death of his mother was particularly hard on him and caused a very self destructive lifestyle. My Dark Places doesn’t hold anything back, even things most people wouldn’t admit to; James Ellroy reveals all of his dark past, including drug abuse, racism and his inappropriate feelings towards his dead mother. I think this is the first true crime book I’ve read and now I’ve got a taste for it. I would love to read a good Black Dahlia true crime novel, so I can better understand the case. I recommend this book to James Ellroy, True Crime and Autobiography fans alike it was a very interesting read.