In Black Dahlia Avenger III bestselling author and veteran LAPD homicide detective Steve Hodel presents his four-year follow-up investigation into Los Angeles's 1947 Black Dahlia murder and other serially connected 1940s Lone Woman Murders.
This edition includes ten new chapters with all new evidence and forensics further linking his father, Dr. George Hill Hodel to the 1947 Black Dahlia Murder, as well as the 1945 Chicago Lipstick Murders, the Manila “Jigsaw Murder” and the 1969 San Francisco Bay Area “Zodiac” murders. Black Dahlia Avenger II (2018) is the sequel to the 2003 New York Times Bestseller and Edgar-award winning Black Dahlia Avenger, and it raises the investigative bar from rock solid to beyond a reasonable doubt—the legal requirement for readers to arrive at a finding of GUILTY.
There was some interesting information in Black Dahlia Avenger III, but due to Hodel writing this more as a case report rather than a book with narrative context, it was a bit of a disjointed read.
I'm pretty convinced that George Hill Hodel was the Black Dahlia murderer, but when it comes to connecting him to the Lipstick Murders, and Zodiac killings, Steve Hodel's evidence is spurious at best. There are some huge leaps in logic, and forced crime signatures that just weren't convincing enough to keep me gripped through this whole book.
This is my first of Steve Hodel's books, and I suspect it probably wasn't the strongest introduction. I might give the first a try at least, but honestly, I think his case is strongest when he isn't trying to blame every unsolved serial killer case from the 40-60's on his dad...
