The black dahlia (novel)
The Black Dahlia ( 1987 ; original title The Black Dahlia ) is a novel by James Ellroy , which takes place in Los Angeles between 1947 and 1949 and is based on a true story - the murder of Elizabeth Short .
action
On January 15, 1947, the mutilated body of Elizabeth Short was found. Because of its black clothes it is called the "black dahlia". Officer Dwight W. "Bucky" Bleichert (the first-person narrator) and his partner Sergeant Leland C. "Lee" Blanchard are set to solve a case that soon becomes an obsession for them. After the proceedings have been officially closed, Bleichert continues to investigate on his own. His mania makes his partner more and more unpredictable and brutal.
As usual with James Ellroy, the novel is characterized by extreme realism. None of the actors are free from guilt. The police are involved in politics and the economy and racism is the order of the day.
expenditure
- American first edition: James Ellroy: The Black Dahlia, The Mysterious Press, New York, NY 1987, ISBN 0-89296-206-2 .
- German first edition: The black dahlia. translated by Jürgen Behrens, with an afterword by James Ellroy. Ullstein, Berlin / Frankfurt am Main 1988, ISBN 3-550-06165-X .
- as an audio book : The Black Dahlia. read by Ulrich Pleitgen , director: Margrit Osterwold. Audiobook Hamburg, Hamburg 2007, ISBN 978-3-89903-428-8 . (13 CDs)
- as a radio play : The Black Dahlia. West German radio , arrangement and direction: Walter Adler. The Hör-Verlag, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-89584-221-4 . (Part 1 and Part 2, a total of 4 audio cassettes).
filming
The novel was filmed by Brian De Palma and released in cinemas in 2006 under the title The Black Dahlia .
Further information
- There has been a metal band from Detroit , Michigan , USA , named after the crime, The Black Dahlia Murder , since 2001 .
- In the same year published Bob Belden , a jazz - concept album of big band and string orchestra entitled Black Dahlia .
- Some fictional protagonists in the novel are based on real people. B. the murder of Elizabeth Short based on a true story. The head of the crime department, Thad Green , is based on Thad Brown. Elizabeth Short's roommates, Linda Martin and Sheryl Saddon , are based on Lynn Martin and Sherryl Maylond. Robert M. "Red" Manley was an actual suspect in the "Black Dahlia" case.
- In 1998 there was a computer game for Windows PCs, which was loosely based on the Black Dahlia murders, Black Dahlia . Released on eight CD-Roms, they played a detective who had to track down a serial killer in the 1940s. You could win the star Dennis Hopper for the elaborate video sequences of the game, but the game, published by Interplay Entertainment , was not a great success.
- The detective game LA Noire , released in 2011, is based on the events of the Dahlia killer.
literature
- Nicolas Heeb: Physical violence and police brutality in James Ellroy's LA Quartet ("The Black Dahlia", "The Big Nowhere", "LA Confidential" and "White Jazz"). Zurich 2002, OCLC 637872957 . (Dissertation University of Zurich 2002)