One of the most infamous cold cases in US history is the murder of Elizabeth Short. Because of its horrific details this case has attained mythical infamy and as a result, Elizabeth’s true story has been twisted to suit the taste of tabloid fodder. The LA police were unable to solve this crime but in recent decades a slew of writers have attempted to.

In this book, Eli Frankel presents new evidence that convinced me that he is onto something.

I don’t want to give away anything, but let’s just say that one suspect was not taken seriously enough and maybe got away with not one, but at least two murders, and it wouldn’t be surprising if there were more, going back to when he was a boy.

In Sisters in Death, Frankel starts with the story of Leila Welsh, a young heiress living in Kansas City at the height of its corrupt political system. There is a lot of history presented to explain why things turned out the way they did in her case, and although Kansas City history isn’t of any particular interest to me, Frankel writes in a very engaging, cinematic style. He brings to life the time and place so vividly. The miscarriage of justice in this case will horrify and infuriate you.

From there we are introduced to Elizabeth Short, in many ways Leila’s opposite, and Frankel focuses on highlighting her true story, not the story of a femme fatale whom the press dubbed the “Black Dahlia,” but of a very young woman struggling to survive. She was a lost soul just trying to get out of LA when she met the wrong person at the wrong time.

What do Leila and Elizabeth have in common besides being murdered? They both crossed paths with the same man. And there are details in both cases that are too similar to be coincidences. Or are they? You will have to read this book to find out. As you can expect it is extremely gruesome so not for the faint-hearted.

I did not expect this book to be as good as it is: it was excellent. It would have been even better if there were even more sources mentioned. I could have missed it but I would like to see proof that the suspect was in town when Leila was murdered, for example. He was in the military but supposedly on leave, and I can only assume that there is solid evidence that this is true.

The theories presented here make sense, and even if it turns out that this suspect was not the perpetrator, this book has new evidence that blows other theories out of the water.

One of many sleuths that claim to have the answers to a decades-old mystery. As with many others who have "solved" the murder of Elizabeth Short, I am still extremely fascinated by the conclusions they come to. Whether or not this is really the solution, it is an entertaining read.

This book I could not put down loved it from beginning to end. I would highly recommend!! This isn't like something ie read before.

I've know about Elizabeth Short's murder but this was the first time I've heard about a similar murder six years and sixteen hundred miles apart. But I learned a lot from Sisters in Death. There's still a lot to learn for even a season True Crime fan.