The Black Dahlia (novel)

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**The Black Dahlia**
Image:JamesEllroy TheBlackDahlia.jpg First edition cover
Author	James Ellroy
Cover artist	Jacket design by Paul Gamarello Jacket illustration by Stephen Peringer Art direction by Barbara Buck
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	L.A. Quartet
Genre(s)	Novel, crime fiction
Publisher	The Mysterious Press
Publication date	September 1987
Media type	Print (hardcover & paperback), audio cassette, audio CD, and audio download
Pages	325 pp (first edition, hardcover)
ISBN	ISBN 0-89296-206-2 (first edition, hardcover)
Followed by	The Big Nowhere

The Black Dahlia is a neo-noir crime fiction novel by James Ellroy, taking inspiration from the true story of the murder of Elizabeth Short. It is widely considered to be the book that elevated Ellroy out of typical genre writer status and with which he started to garner critical attention as a serious writer of literature. The Black Dahlia is the first book in Ellroy's L.A. Quartet, a cycle of novels set in 1940s and 1950s Hollywood, which is portrayed as a hotbed of corruption and depravity. The Quartet continues with The Big Nowhere, L.A. Confidential, and White Jazz.

1 Plot summary
2 Film adaptation
3 Differences between the novel and film
4 See also

[edit] Plot summary

The novel's protagonist, ex-boxer Dwight "Bucky" Bleichert, is promoted to Warrants Officer and partnered with Lee Blanchard. Bucky meets Kay Lake, who lives with Lee, and the two form a relationship. Although Bucky loves Kay, he doesn't tell her because of his friendship with Lee, who isn't interested in Kay romantically.

Shortly after joining Warrants, Bucky and Lee discover the mutilated body of aspiring actress Elizabeth Short, dubbed "The Black Dahlia" by the press. Lee wants to solve her murder because the victim reminds him of his sister. Meanwhile, Bucky feels that the large number of policemen on the case are adequate, and he wants to be relocated back to Warrants. Lee, increasingly close to the case, eventually disappears, and Bucky tries to find him.

All the while, Bucky is drawn closer to an obsession with the murder victim and eventually discovers that Lee was murdered. Bucky marries Kay soon after. A short time after the marriage, Bucky begins dwelling on the murder of Elizabeth Short, and his marriage ends up in jeopardy. He finally discovers who is responsible for the murder, and the novel ends with possible hope for Bucky's future with Kay.

[edit] Film adaptation

The Black Dahlia was adapted for a film by director Brian DePalma in 2005 and released in 2006.

[edit] Differences between the novel and film

See Main Article The Black Dahlia (film).

[edit] See also

Black Dahlia - Details of the murder.

v • d • e James Ellroy
Bibliography
Stand-alone: Brown's Requiem \| Clandestine \| Killer on the Road
Lloyd Hopkins Trilogy: Blood on the Moon \| Because the Night \| Suicide Hill
L.A. Quartet: The Black Dahlia \| The Big Nowhere \| L.A. Confidential \| White Jazz
American Underworld Trilogy: American Tabloid \| The Cold Six Thousand \| Blood's a Rover
Short story collections: Hollywood Nocturnes \| Crime Wave \| Destination: Morgue!
Non-Fiction: My Dark Places
Films
Adaptations: Cop \| L.A. Confidential \| Brown's Requiem \| Stay Clean \| The Black Dahlia \| White Jazz
Original Screenplays: Dark Blue \| The Night Watchman