WHITE JAZZ

L.A., 1958. Corrupt Lt. Dave Klein, rapidly into a morass of bribes, fixes, and murder, hunts a thief whose crime-family victims don't want him caught and agrees to dig dirt on a Howard Hughes starlet—all while struggling to duck the fallout from his latest killing. As controversy over the proposed stadium for the Dodgers in Chavez Ravine brings city politics to a boil, Dave gets the word from mobster Mickey Cohen to help Sanderline Johnson, a half-wit croupier picked up in a raid, out his ninth-floor window before he can testify. The official verdict is flipped-out suicide, but the murder squeezes Dave between his department patron, detective chief Ed Exley; his would-be patron, Capt. Dudley Smith, deep in the Organization's pocket; double-dealing D.A. Bob Gallaudet; and Welles Noonan, a politically-minded US attorney with blood in his eye. Meanwhile, Exley puts Dave in charge of a break-in to the home of mobster J. C. Kafesjian, who wants him off the case; and Dave falls in love with Glenda Bledsoe, the starlet whose contract Hollywood mogul Hughes wants to break—and vows to protect her from the man whose money he's taking to break her. As if all this weren't trouble enough, somebody (Exley? Gallaudet? Dud Smith?) frames Dave for a murder that's been captured on film. Finally, the mayhem is garnished with Ellroy's patented Extra Chunky prose, familiar to veterans of LA. Confidential, etc. (sample action scene: "Linoleum floor—maroon dots—dried blood. Chick on the bed, zipping his fly. Knucks/gun butt—quick—I bashed his face, hacked his nuts, cracked his arms. Bone jar up my arms—Chick balled himself tight." Dave thinks like this too). Ellroy's been cooking up these overseasoned ragouts too long to change his recipe now; if you don't already know him, a page or two will convince you whether he's genius or a poseur, or both.