How long does it take to read Black Dahlia Avenger?
a genius for murder
Steve Hodel
Black Dahlia Avenger by Steve Hodel takes about 8 hours 49 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
About 8 hours 49 minutes
A week or two of reading
First published 2003. 481 pages, about 132,275 words.
18 days at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 14 hours 42 minutes |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 8 hours 49 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 5 hours 31 minutes |
The page count is the median across 2 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
The author, a former Los Angeles police officer, recounts how he concluded that his late father, Dr. George Hodel, was the Black Dahlia Avenger, the serial killer responsible for the death of Elizabeth Short in 1947 and other murders. More than fifty years after what has been called the most notorious unsolved murder of the 20th century, the case has finally been solved. On January 15, 1947, the body of beautiful 22-year-old Elizabeth Short dubbed the Black Dahlia because of her black clothing and the dahlia she wore in her hair was discovered on a vacant lot in downtown Los Angeles, her body surgically bisected, horribly mutilated, and posed as if for display. Even the most hardened homicide detectives were shocked and sickened by the sadistic murder. Thus began the largest manhunt in LA history. For weeks the killer taunted the police and public much as his infamous English counterpart Jack the Ripper had done in London 60 years before, sending tantalizing notes, urging them to catch me if you can. And for weeks and months the LAPD came up empty. Charges of police ineptitude soon gave way to rumors of corruption and cover-up at the highest levels. Meanwhile, a rash of lone women in LA were brutally murdered, and their cases also remained mysteriously unsolved. Could the Black Dahlia Avenger be, in fact, a serial killer stalking the city streets?
Subjects: Murder, Investigation, Case studies, Criminal investigation, united states, Murder, california
