"I want to be known as the greatest crime novelist who ever lived." Strong words from James Ellroy, whose novels combine the harsh dialogue and dark characters of [b:Raymond Chandler|2052|The Big Sleep|Raymond Chandler|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41AGA624Z5L._SL75_.jpg|1222673] and the evisceration of dirty family secrets that Ross MacDonald was so good at. The Black Dahlia takes place in Los Angeles just after the end WW II. Two officers, Mr. Ice and Mr. Fire, as they are nicknamed for their boxing styles -- they are both ex-boxers -- return to the ring for the glory of the LAPD and its tax referendum. They become friends and partners, both in love with the same woman, but that's only the beginning of the complications. The dissected, brutalized body of a beautiful woman is discovered. Blanchard, the senior officer, takes a personal interest in the case because of the guilt he has been unable to exorcize, following the murder years before of his little sister. The case becomes a labyrinth of entanglements, however, as the two officers discover things about each other they wish they had not known. The case becomes an obsession for both. To reveal more would give away too many plot twists.
An article about Ellroy in New York (August 24, 1992) reveals that writing Dahlia must have been cathartic for him. Ellroy's mother was strangled under circumstances quite similar to those of the character in his novel. Ellroy's life has a dark side, too. His simulation of a crazy person was vivid enough to convince an army psychiatrist, who voided his enlistment in the army during Vietnam. Judging by some of the other things he did, I'm not sure if he was acting. He was in and out of jail for burglary, intoxication, and homelessness. Libraries became his only refuge, and he read constantly. He spent much of his twenties and thirties trying to shake the dual demons of alcohol and drugs, and his writing reflects the anger and intensity that his friend Joseph Wambaugh still sees in him whenever they get together. His characters are not nice people: the police anti-heroes break laws and kill people. They resemble the criminals they chase, but they are wracked by guilt. Society is corruption.
His books are wonderful reading, however, because of the intricate plots and great dialogue. But Ellroy warns, "I don't want to entertain readers. I want to shock them. I want a hellishly violent story told in hellishly violent language by a very bad man."
