Customer Reviews

Shadow of the Dahlia

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Every mystery work has something special within its pages; a twist that leaves you shaking your head or thinking about it for days after the read. To me, this work left me with a smile and the realization that life often evens the score.

Rick Page is a private eye in L.A. He is hired by a millionaire to find his missing wife. He finds her, murdered and mutilated in the same fashion as another young women had been before her. Seemingly the two murders were not related, nor were the killers of the first victim, Elizabeth Short, ever brought to justice, but Rick knew better.

His investigation takes him into the depths of those who seem to have no soul, nor regard for the dignity of human life, only for their perverse pleasures and greed.
Nearly losing his own life, Rick presses on determined to settle a burning desire to see the murderers of Laura Prendergast brought to justice. Perhaps the justice is not the way some would have liked, but nevertheless it seemed to fit the occasion.

I liked this book. It took on a new twist in a mystery read and kept my interest.
The characters were well thought out and the author interwove them nicely within the storyline. There was mystery, adventure and a tad of romance. Well done and recommended.

Shirley Johnson
Senior Reviewer
MidWest Book Review

With all the publicity for the new "Black Dahlia" movie this month, I figured it was time to read "Shadow of the Dahlia" by Jack Bludis. I've been saving this book to read some time when I was depressed, and since this week has had a few disappointments, I figured that was enough excuse to ignore the phone for a few evenings and plunge myself back into Hollywood in the early part of 1947.

The protagonist of this book is Rick Page, a private eye. Rick is thrown into the world of Hollywood high-rollers who trade women like cars when he is asked to find Laura Prendergast, ex-callgirl, now-wife of a millionaire. At the same time, a crime boss enlists Rick's help in discovering who fathered his impetuous daughter Alice's forthcoming child.

Rick doesn't feel like he's making any headway in either case. The wife he's seeking doesn't want to be found, and the people she is hiding with turn out to be worse than the people she was hiding from. The daughter won't tell him who the father of her baby is, and she doesn't really want to settle down and be married, anyway-- but she makes it clear she wouldn't mind sleeping with Rick [again!].

All the city's attention is focused on the brutal murder of Elizabeth Short, the Black Dahlia, so it seems Rick alone is left find out what really happened to Laura Prendergast, and find a Daddy for Alice's baby. But when people keep warning Rick to mind his own business-- NOT TO MENTION knocking him out several times and trying to drown him-- he could swear the voices are familiar from both cases. What's the connection between Laura and Alice? And do either of them have a connection to the murder of the Black Dahlia?

Jack Bludis does it again... this great book sets you squarely in another time and place for a few days, keeps you on your toes from the start, and delivers a satisfying conclusion.

This would be a great book to read anytime, but especially so now, to get psyched up for the release of the new movie "Black Dahlia."