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A review by trin
Black Dahlia Avenger: A Genius for Murder by Steve Hodel
2.0
OOF. This starts out compelling -- Hodel's investigation into his father's past, and gradual (or was it?) realization that the man was an absolute monster, and maybe famous murderer, is well done, and (for the most part) convincingly presented. But the longer this book goes on -- and it goes on way, way, way too long -- the further Hodel goes off the rails. Tiny scraps of possible evidence are produced as DEFINITIVE PROOF!!!! The more assured Hodel becomes of his case -- that his father, Dr. George Hodel, murdered Elizabeth Short, "The Black Dahlia," and likely several other women -- the less convincing it is to the reader.
The author says a lot of things like, "AND SO WE HAVE CONCLUSIVELY PROVEN [thing not in any way conclusively proven]." The reader calls bullshit.
Whereas, if he'd said, "I think the evidence points toward this being probably true because of x, y, and z, although I cannot prove it definitively," the reader is much more like to go, "Yeah, sounds legit! Made a good case there, bud!"
Look. I think George Hodel has been definitively shown to have been an evil man, a serial abuser without doubt and almost certainly a rapist. And I think, even if only subconsciously, his son knew this long before he found the photos in his father's album that he claims he recognized as Elizabeth Short and which spurred this investigation into motion. (One of these photos has since been conclusively proved not to be her, and the other is, uh...a loose match at best, in my opinion.) I think he always knew that his dad was a giant piece of shit. And that's gotta be rough. But instead of going to therapy, he chose to write this 700-page obsessive spiral (and several more volumes besides!).
The question is, why did I read it???
Well...because honestly, I think Steve Hodel is likely right, in his most basic premise: George Hodel murdered Elizabeth Short. But oh boy, this is not the best way to prove it.
The author says a lot of things like, "AND SO WE HAVE CONCLUSIVELY PROVEN [thing not in any way conclusively proven]." The reader calls bullshit.
Whereas, if he'd said, "I think the evidence points toward this being probably true because of x, y, and z, although I cannot prove it definitively," the reader is much more like to go, "Yeah, sounds legit! Made a good case there, bud!"
Look. I think George Hodel has been definitively shown to have been an evil man, a serial abuser without doubt and almost certainly a rapist. And I think, even if only subconsciously, his son knew this long before he found the photos in his father's album that he claims he recognized as Elizabeth Short and which spurred this investigation into motion. (One of these photos has since been conclusively proved not to be her, and the other is, uh...a loose match at best, in my opinion.) I think he always knew that his dad was a giant piece of shit. And that's gotta be rough. But instead of going to therapy, he chose to write this 700-page obsessive spiral (and several more volumes besides!).
The question is, why did I read it???
Well...because honestly, I think Steve Hodel is likely right, in his most basic premise: George Hodel murdered Elizabeth Short. But oh boy, this is not the best way to prove it.