On January 15, 1947, the torture-ravished body of abeautiful young woman is found in a Los Angelesvacant lot. The victim makes headlines as the BlackDahlia--and so begins the greatest manhunt inCalifornia history.

Caught up in the investigation are Bucky Bleichertand Lee Blanchard: Warrants Squad cops, friends, andrivals in love with the same woman. But both areobsessed with the Dahlia--driven by dark needs toknow everything about her past, to capture her killer, topossess the woman even in death. Their quest willtake them on a hellish journey through the underbellyof postwar Hollywood, to the core of the dead girl'stwisted life, past the extremes of their own psyches--into a region of total madness.