Steve Hodel has 3 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 2 narrators, with an average listener rating of 4.2★ across 6 ratings. The most-rated is Black Dahlia Avenger.
Black Dahlia Avenger
Summary
For 56 years, the Black Dahlia murder case remained one of the most notorious and high-profile unsolved crimes of the 20th century. Now, Steve Hodel, a 24-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department, believes he has finally solved the case. On January 15, 1947, 22-year-old Elizabeth Short - "The Black Dahlia" - was found dead in a vacant lot in Los Angeles, her body horribly mutilated, bisected at the waist, and posed in a bizarre manner. The horrific crime shocked the country and commanded headlines for months as the killer taunted the police with notes and phone calls. Despite the massive manhunt, the murderer was never found. Hodel began working on the case after he retired from the LAPD when he chanced upon an intriguing piece of evidence that led him on a trail that he had no choice but to follow - since it pertained directly to him. As he dug deeper, he came to believe that the killer was also responsible for over a dozen other unsolved murders in the Los Angeles area around the same time. He also found copious evidence of corruption at the LAPD, leading him to accuse the department top brass of covering up the Black Dahlia murder in order to conceal a deeper conspiracy involving crooked politicians and gangsters. Despite a lack of physical evidence (which had been destroyed), Hodel is able to connect numerous dots and make a plausible case, complete with lurid tales of wild orgies that were attended by celebrities such as the artist Man Ray, the director John Huston, and a host of other Hollywood elites. He also discloses his killer’s obsession with the Marquis de Sade and Jack the Ripper and how he modeled his own crimes on their behavior. In particular, there is a disturbing connection between the work of Man Ray and the horrific circumstances of Short’s murder. It is doubtful that this will be the final word on the Black Dahlia murder - too much myth surrounds it and much of his evidence is circumstantial - but Hodel’s labyrinthine tale adds much to this intriguing case.
©2003, 2011 Steve Hodel (P)2012 Audible, Inc.
Most Evil
Summary
When veteran LAPD homicide detective Steve Hodel discovered that his own late father, Dr. George Hill Hodel, was the killer in the infamous Black Dahlia murder case, he wrote the best seller
Black Dahlia Avenger, a book that convinced even the L.A. County Deputy District Attorney that George Hodel was responsible for Elizabeth Short's gruesome death.
As a veteran police investigator, Steve Hodel's instincts told him that if his father was capable of that level of cruelty, it probably didn't begin or end with the Black Dahlia. Steve Hodel has devoted his life to examining the evidence of his father's fascinating and mysterious life, and shocking new revelations that have come to light in the last five years are the subject of Most Evil.
If Steve Hodel's research is correct, Dr. George Hill Hodel was among the most prolific serial killers in history, beginning as a young man and continuing to kill throughout his long life of 91 years. Among his crimes are dozens of unsolved murder cases stretching back 60 years.
Most Evil compiles an astonishing amount of never-before-seen visual, circumstantial, and forensic evidence to prove Hodel's case. This relentless, compelling, and persuasive investigation will revolutionize the way we think about some of the most intriguing, brutal, unsolved, and previously unconnected murders in American history - and it may change our understanding of serial killers altogether.
©2009 Steve Hodel and Ralph Pezzullo (P)2009 Brilliance Audio, Inc.
Most Evil II
Summary
Most Evil II is Steve Hodel's follow-up investigation (2009-2015) into his father's potential murders and introduces new evidence and additional linkage obtained by him over the past six years. Included in that evidence is the solving of the Zodiac's 45-year-cryptic cipher, which gives us the answer to the question asked in Most Evil: Were Black Dahlia Avenger and Zodiac the same serial killer? The solution of that cipher provides us with the name of San Francisco's most infamous serial killer. However, it is not presented as just another theory from some armchair detective or even from the author himself, a highly respected veteran LAPD homicide detective. Rather, the solution comes from the killer's own mouth, written in his own hand - it is Zodiac's personally signed confession!
©2016 Steve Hodel (P)2016 Steve Hodel