L.A. Confidential is James Ellroy’s masterpiece. It’s on par with Dashiell Hammett or Raymond Chandler as a noir novel. The third book in Ellroy’s L.A. Quartet, it’s easily the best police/detective novel of the last half of the twentieth century. Do not compare it with the L.A. Confidential movie based off the book, it’s much, much better. Based off some true events and interspersed with real people throughout the book, L.A. Confidential is a quintessential American crime novel that should be read by everyone.

The book starts with the real-life Bloody Christmas event from 1951 and continues following our main characters through to early 1958. The book deals with three main characters. Ed Exley is a war hero (officially at least) who’s father was a legendary L.A. police officer and older brother, who was expected to carry on the police legacy, died at the hands of a criminal. Ed wants to get out from under the shadow of his family and is determined to rise higher than either of them did. Bud White is a thug police officer who wants to be more than that. He is seen as the muscle with no brains by everyone except the Veronica Lake look-alike prostitute that he falls in love with. Jack Vincennes is a narcotics officer who is the police consultant to Badge of Honor (a Dragnet-like TV show) and is haunted by his past.

The plot mainly revolves around the murder of several people at the Nite Owl coffee house. The investigation is seen as a chance by the LAPD to regain their prestige after the public relations disaster of Bloody Christmas. The investigation promises to make the careers of our policemen if it doesn’t destroy their lives first. And each of our main characters has another case they are trying to solve, all of which end up tying into the Nite Owl case. Real life characters such as Chief of Police William Parker and mobster Mickey Cohen play important roles in the novel. And the real scandal magazine Confidential was changed to Hush-Hush and is a source of income and scandal throughout.

Ellroy’s writing is amazing. He perfected his use of staccato sentences mixed with noir situations here. And he brings 1950’s LA to life. The book deftly weaves together dozens of characters and plot over a six year period without leaving the reader confused over who is talking who what is going on. This book should be mandatory reading by anyone who likes police and/or noir.

This post is part of the thread: James Ellroy – an ongoing story on this site. View the thread timeline for more context on this post.