Meanwhile, a rash of lone women in LA were brutally murdered, and their cases also remained mysteriously unsolved. Charges of police ineptitude soon gave way to rumors of corruption and cover-up at the highest levels. For weeks the killer taunted the police-and public-much as his infamous English counterpart Jack the Ripper had done in London 60 years before, sending tantalizing notes, urging them to "catch me if you can." And for weeks and months the LAPD came up empty. Thus began the largest manhunt in LA history. Even the most hardened homicide detectives were shocked and sickened by the sadistic murder. The CWA Daggers, which are the probably the awards crime authors and publishers alike most wish to win, are awarded every year in 10 categories. On January 15, 1947, the body of beautiful 22-year-old Elizabeth Short-dubbed the Black Dahlia because of her black clothing and the dahlia she wore in her hair-was discovered on a vacant lot in downtown Los Angeles, her body surgically bisected, horribly mutilated, and posed as if for display. The CWA Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction represents as an eclectic shortlist as ever, with Piu Marie Eatwell’s Black Dahlia Red Rose a notable title with its new take on an infamous murder case. More than fifty years after what has been called "the most notorious unsolved murder of the 20th century," the case has finally been solved.
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