Childhood Shadows: The Hidden Story of the Black Dahlia Murder [Paperback]

Mary Pacios (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2007

Electronic Distribution Date: February 2007 Printed & Bound Distribution Date: February 2007 This updated version of Childhood Shadows, a book first published in 1999, adds new details to a compelling account of the Black Dahlia murder-one of Hollywood's most infamous unsolved crimes. Combining personal experience as a close friend of the victim, Elizabeth Short, with in-depth research, Childhood Shadows brings a unique perspective and opens up an intriguing new area of speculation about who the killer may be. Author Mary Pacios sets the stage by recreating the neighborhood she shared with Elizabeth "Bette" Short during the years of the Great Depression and World War II. The war ends, but instead of peace, the horrendous murder of the young and beautiful Elizabeth Short send shock waves through the nation. Years later, haunted by the unsolved murder of her childhood friend, Pacios sets out to discover the true circumstances surrounding her friend's brutal death. Because of her personal relationship with the victim, Pacios gains access to officials close to the case who discuss with her unpublicized details of the murxder and their own privately held theories of who killed the woman known as the Black Dahlia. The research Pacios expects to last only a few months turns into a strange twenty-year odyssey that explodes many of the myths surrounding the victim and her murder.Appendices include photographs, official documents, synopses of the various suspects and an extensive annotated bibliography. .

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mary Adeline Pacios, born and raised in Medford, Massachusetts, was a neighbor and friend of murder victim Elizabeth Short for ten years. Pacios' personal connection to Elizabeth Short has enabled her to focus with remarkable insight into the life, as well as the sensational death, of one of the most publicized and puzzled-over victims of the 20th century. Pacios, an accomplished artist and writer with a special interest in urban affairs and history, has written and edited essays, reports, and technical papers dealing with environmental issues, social change, contemporary printmaking, African art, and German Expressionism. For a U.S. edition, Ms. Pacios 'translated' The Complete Manual of Relief Printing (Dorling Kindersley, 1988) from British English to American English. She also edited the hilarious autobiography of underground filmmakers George and Mike Kuchar, Reflections from a Cinematic Cesspool. Pacios, a prize-winning painter and printmaker with an extensive international exhibition record, has lectured and demonstrated her printmaking techniques on college campuses. Her art work, has been shown in the United States, Europe, and Asia, and is included in prestigious public and private art collections. As an artist, she brings to this reconsideration of an infamous crime an unusual aptitude for detailed appraisal.

Product Details

• Paperback: 410 pages
• Publisher: AuthorHouse (February 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585004847
• ISBN-13: 978-1585004843
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #153,988 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

85 of 86 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Real Black Dahlia At Last, March 9, 2000

By 

R. Moricz - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Childhood Shadows: The Hidden Story of the Black Dahlia Murder (Paperback)

If you have any interest whatsoever in the infamous Black Dahlia murder case, Mary Pacios' Childhood Shadows is a must-read. I've already read it twice and I am certain to read it again. It contains information I've never seen in other books on this strange and unsolved case.

The author knew the victim, Beth Short, personally while growing up in Medford, Massachusetts in the '30's and '40's. This provides the reader with insights sorely lacking in other well-known books on the subject.

Pacios' book shows a woman trying hard to stay afloat during difficult times - not a whore, harlot, or wayward sister who brought upon her own destruction with dangerous behavior, but a kind woman whose murder, along with the press' sensational tabloid style coverage, had a painful and lasting affect on those who knew and loved her.

The book is packed with valuable firsthand information including accounts from the Black Dahlia's friends and family, as well as detectives, press, and experts who worked on the case. This book presents Beth Short as a real human being, not the archetypical dark, mysterious woman of the shadows presented in press and past books.

This book rings true - the author never offers conjecture; she never says, "This is who the killer is and this is how it happened!" She presents the results of 10 years of painstaking research, having interviewed numerous individuals associated with the case. And that research leads the author to a shocking, yet very plausible suspect (the most plausible of all the suspects I've read about). What makes the suspect so shocking is the fact that it is a very well-known Hollywood personality.

Devoid of sensationalistic conjecture and the macho posturings of other Dahlia books, Childhood Shadows is a loving and humane treatment of a subject that's previously been exploited by less sensitive writers. Other books tell more about the authors' troubled relationshops with women than the actual Black Dahlia case. Pacios' book is the real deal.

The memory of Beth Short deserves this book. If you want to know the truth behind the myth, then this is the one you should read.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Childhood Shadows is captivating, May 12, 2000

By 

Kyle R Nordrehaug (Attorney in San Diego) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Childhood Shadows: The Hidden Story of the Black Dahlia Murder (Paperback)

I've read other accounts of the Black Dahlia murders by other authors, but Pacios seems to be uniquely in touch with Elizabeth. The 40s come alive and Elizabeth becomes a real person in this book. The story is told with a passion and an understanding fueled by the author's own search for the truth. This book is a must read for any one who is interested in the murder, because you don't know whole story until you've read this book. I felt that Pacios effectively conveyed a much needed feminine perspective to a subject which previously languished under the pens of cumbersome men. I look forward to the author's next book.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, May 31, 2000

By 

Rene Lynn (Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Childhood Shadows: The Hidden Story of the Black Dahlia Murder (Paperback)

This book is all about setting the story straight and getting real about what actually happened to a girl who wasn't just victimized by a killer, but by a tainted press and crazy authors, and all the people who fed on and feed off the publicized slander and trash. It's about time. A personal thanks to the author for entering a clean perspective to this case.