Sisters In Death: The Black Dahlia, The Prairie Heiress, and Their Hunter by Eli Frankel
Many thinks to Kensington Publishing and NetGallery for
sending me an advanced copy of Eli Frankel’s exciting new true crime book Sisters In Death: The Black Dahlia, The Prairie Heiress, and Their Hunter, which takes
a new look at infamous murder of Elizabeth Short, also known as the Black Dahlia.
In particular Frankel’s book seeks to link Short’s gruesome murder with another
murder six years prior in Kansas City, MO. While he presents some interesting
and compelling circumstantial evidence, it’s hard to say that the evidence definitively
points to Carl Balsiger, a man who seemingly had connections to both victims
and was in both locations at the time. I’m relatively new to the case of the
Black Dahlia murder, but I recently read Leila Taylor’s amazing book Sick Houses, which discussed another suspect of the Black Dahlia case, Dr. George
Hodel, and the house he lived in. Taylor’s book piqued my interest in the case,
and Frankel’s book provides a detailed look at Short’s brief peripatetic life and
focuses on the last few months leading up to her disappearance and the gruesome
discovery of her body that eventually changed Los Angeles. However, prior to
discussing this case, Frankel presents the details of the case of Leila Walsh,
a young, popular girl from a prominent Kansas City family who was brutally
murdered in her room. Frankel’s writing is compelling and engaging. Her does
well detailing the character and life of Welsh and her family members to create
a sense of empathy and understanding so that when Frankel describes the murder,
it is truly shocking and brutal, not only for the gore and violence, but also
in how her loss impacts others with whom she was close. One of the other
aspects of Frankel’s writing that I enjoyed was that he contextualizes the
politics of Kansas City to better understand the kind of corruption that was
pervasive in the politics of the time. This kind of bias and shoddy criminal
investigation allowed the focus to point to Welsh’s brother, who didn’t really
have a valid motive (they claimed it was for Leila’s cut of the inheritance) nor
was there much evidence that pointed to him. However, Frankel’s detailing of
the fallout from Leila’s murder shows the depths to which some prosecutors
might sink to either punish perceived enemies or try to bring a show trial to
appease the kind of public angst that often follows these brutal and well-publicized
slayings.
The next section details Elizabeth Short’s life and times
leading up to her murder. While Leila Welsh lived a somewhat privileged life
and attended college, Elizabeth Short’s life was starkly different, and her
vast travels and somewhat nomadic existence seems almost like it wouldn’t be
possible today. In some ways, Short reminded me of another conspiratorial and
mysterious figure- Lee Harvey Oswald, whose strange and itinerant lifestyle
only added to his mystique after his violence and death. However, Frankel also does
well to contextualize the historical times that Short lived in, and his writing
also helps to challenge some of the myths about Short’s life that have
perpetuated since her brutal murder. In fact, Frankel regularly defends her life
in the ways that some of Short’s own acquaintances did. Her notes that Short avoided
drinking and drugs, and was not highly sexual, especially since some of the
reports seemed to suggest that Short was promiscuous. Rather, Frankel paints
the picture of a young woman whose abandonment from her father and whose loss
of a fiancé in a plane crash left her adrift and emotionally distant, wanting
to connect with others, but also somewhat hesitant to develop deeper bonds. Frankel’s
treatment of Short also presents her as naïve and too trusting in some ways,
which may have been her downfall. As I was reading this book and learning more
about who Elizabeth Short was, I couldn’t help but wonder whether David Lynch
based Betty (a nickname Short used at times) from Mulholland Drive on
this case. Betty, whose naïve and cheerful midwestern appeal is contrasted with
her dark doppelgänger who seems to live amongst the trash in LA’s underbelly,
seems like she shares many similarities with Elizabeth Short. Regardless, Frankel’s
writing, especially his characterization from his research into Short’s life
and times, elicited a lot of connections from me.
The last section of the book details Carl Balsiger, a scion
of a prominent grocery and bakery family from Kansas City. Despite coming from a
semi-aristocratic background, Frankel paints Balsiger as a failure in many
ways. Filled with character flaws, Frankel presents us with an individual who only
experiences success during World War II in developing a baking system that
provided bread and nourishment to soldiers in the Pacific. I wasn’t aware of
this topic in the war, but Frankel presents fresh baked bread as one of the
factors that may have tipped the pacific campaign to the Americans. Although
Balsiger used his background experience in food service to support the American
effort, it seemed like every other opportunity he had in America was wasted and
Balsiger could never live up to his father’s expectations. Throughout these
chapters about Balsiger’s life, Frankel presents instances where Balsiger may
have participated in violence against women and family members. For one, Balsiger’s
sister died in a mysterious drowning incident when they were children. The
implication from Frankel was that Balsiger could have been responsible since
there was no real investigation into the details. Furthermore, Balsiger was
involved in strange paddling incidents in college, suggesting that this showed
his early proclivities for violence against others. Frankel also presents
instances where Balsiger seemed to hover around the periphery of Leila Welsh,
attending the same college and living just blocks from her. Balsiger’s
connections Short are more significant, and he was viewed as a suspect in her
murder, although he was never officially charged. I can’t say whether I know
Balsiger is guily or not, but Frankel presents some compelling research and
details, both circumstantial and evidentiary, to make his case.
I enjoyed this book and read through it quickly, often
wanting to continue reading the chapters to find out what would happen next.
Frankel’s writing is engaging, and he does well creating a historical context
as well as some deeply engaging and human characters based on the historical
records, artifacts from the case, and even interviews with family members and
relatives of those involved in these cases. Although there is some evidence
that points to Balsiger’s involvement especially with Elizabeth Short, his
connections with Leila Welsh seem more tenuous. Nevertheless, it is an
interesting connection to examine. At times, Frankel’s reporting and
contextualizing can go a little too far. There were a few times when I lost
track, especially with the Short section, when there were many different individuals
involved. The only other aspect of the book was the brutality of the murders. Both
murders were incredibly violent and graphic, and Frankel’s writing goes into
depth about the violence and brutality. I’m usually one who enjoys a good
scare, but maybe because these events really happened, I found myself gasping
at the descriptions of the victims’ murders. Regardless, this was a compelling
read, and it made me want to read more about the Black Dahlia case, especially
to see what kind of evidence might point to other suspects. While Frankel makes
an interesting case, I’d like to explore some other theories related to this
case. Nevertheless, this is a really good book that I highly recommend.
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