The New York Times Book Review - Marilyn Stasio
…[a] juicy page-turner…For all its salacious content, Eatwell's historical crime study is an expansive work that delves into the broader culture of postwar Los Angeles…Her immersive style is filled with camera-ready period detail.
Publishers Weekly
08/21/2017
The 1947 murder of Elizabeth Short and the ensuing hunt for the so-called Black Dahlia killer baffled the LAPD and fascinated the public at the time, and has been studied by crime historians in the decades since. In this ambitious but overstuffed account, Eatwell (The Dead Duke, His Secret Wife, and the Missing Corpse) too often gets tangled up in the web of mystery surrounding the still-unsolved crime rather than unraveling it. When a young woman’s bisected body was discovered in Los Angeles’ Leimert Park on Jan. 15, 1947, identifying her proved challenging for LAPD detectives. From the outset, the press took a strong interest in the case, particularly the Los Angeles Examiner and the Herald-Express. It was ultimately the Examiner that first identified the victim as 22-year-old Short, after the staff sent the corpse’s fingerprints to the FBI. In agonizing detail, Eatwell catalogues the LAPD’s struggle for answers, even after the discovery of Short’s luggage, containing an address book filled with potential suspects. Often preoccupied with tracing the corruption scandals that ran rampant within the LAPD, Eatwell, who oddly becomes a character in the narrative at the end, makes a convincing case for the Black Dahlia killer’s identity, but takes far too long and far too twisted a road to get there. (Oct.)
Bustle
"Black Dahlia, Red Rose . . . put[s] Elizabeth Short at the center of her own story, while still managing to read like a classic noir tale. Eatwell's extensive research pays off in the narrative, which is impressively detailed. . . . Fascinating."
The Irish Times
"A meticulously researched work that is delivered with all the punch, pace and suspense of the finest noir thrillers . . . Eatwell never forgets the tragic figure at the heart of her story, while emphasising the callousness of the post-second World War era in which she was so brutally murdered."
New York Times Book Review
"Black Dahlia, Red Rose by Piu Eatwell provides fresh evidence that we can never get enough of our favorite pin-up corpse. . . . [A] juicy page turner…capturing both the allure and the perils of the dream factory that promised riches and fame to star-struck young women from tired little towns all over war-weary America and who, even today, find themselves at the mercy of predatory men."
Minneapolis Star Tribune
"There will be other books. There will be other theories. They’ll have to meet the Eatwell standard."
Sarah Lotz
"Compulsively readable, impeccably researched and heart-rending at times, Black Dahlia, Red Rose deserves a place at the top of any true crime aficionado’s bookshelf. With forensic precision and an admirable eye for detail, Piu Eatwell not only uncovers plausible new insights into the notorious and brutal murder of Elizabeth Short, she unpicks the mores of the time, delves into the motivations of the main players and blasts through the smoky noir clichés surrounding 1940s Los Angeles."
Jon Lewis
"Piu Eatwell is hot on the trail of one of the twentieth century’s most famous cold cases—the Black Dahlia murder—and she takes us along for the ride…back to Los Angeles in the winter of 1947, back to the wealth of evidence assembled by the cops, by the tabloids and news dailies, by a 1949 grand jury. The ride is well worth taking, especially when she hones in on a plausible and previously neglected suspect in the case."
Sunday Times
"Eatwell writes brilliantly . . . After decades of cultural appropriation by journalists, novelists and film-makers, Eatwell has finally offered [Elizabeth] Short a type of belated justice. Her book reads like a thriller, but it never loses sight of the real woman whose life was so savagely extinguished."
Library Journal
10/15/2017
Seventy years after the murder of Elizabeth Short, infamously called the "Black Dahlia," sent shock waves through Los Angeles, Eatwell (The Dead Duke, His Secret Wife, and the Missing Corpse) presents a thoroughly researched look at the crime and subsequent investigation conducted by the LAPD. Eatwell successfully paints a portrait of the city and its police department, signifying that the cover-up and corruption involved in this case (as well as throughout the department) was a product of the time and not reflective of today's practices. Although the featured photographs will likely be familiar to true crime sleuths who have studied the case, many of the supporting documents are full of previously unreleased information pertaining to Short's murder. Eatwell has included files (many of which are newly available) from the LAPD and FBI investigations as well as interviews. VERDICT The investigative materials provide a solid foundation for Eatwell's film noir-style narrative; a first purchase where true crime titles circulate widely.—Mattie Cook, Lake Odessa Comm. Lib., MI
