Black Dahlia

Severed: The True Story Of The Black Dahlia Murder

By John Gilmore

230 pp. Amok Books. Paper, $16.95

Although many Dahlia fans consider John Gilmore's book the definitive account of the Elizabeth Short murder, "Severed" is crippled by several problems, the most serious being an utter lack of citations.

Gilmore has stated that he spent 35 years ruminating on the Short murder and 13 years actively researching it. Obvious question here: if he spent so many years of his life enmeshed in the case, why the heck didn't he bother documenting his claims using the time-honored tradition of footnotes and a bibliography? Likewise, Gilmore rarely includes dates in his narrative, and there's no index.

He also has a magical ability to conjure up private conversations he obviously wasn't privy to, such as private dialogues between the lead investigators that took place decades earlier.

In an online interview with crime writer Craig McDonald, Gilmore stated that the "reason I didn't put dates and such in the book is that I want the reader to be thrust into the thing....I want the reader exposed to the crime as it goes down." Fair enough. But why not just stick to straight fiction?

Gilmore is no journalist, but he is an entertaining writer who loves to wallow in the lurid and grotesque to provide the reader with a cheap thrill. "Severed" has all the pacing and color of a true potboiler.

A native Angeleno, Gilmore was in grade school when Short was murdered. His father was an officer with the Los Angeles Police Department. Given his vintage and pedigree, Gilmore is able to infuse his narrative with local and historical color; his depictions of the gritty bars and Hollywood street scene are pure Los Angeles noir.

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