3 Comments for Most Evil: Avenger, Zodiac, and the Further Serial Murders of Dr. George Hill Hodel

• 1. Frisco  |  December 14th, 2009 at 9:40 am

  I just finished this book, and while it is interesting and at times fascinating, you are left thinking, Ok, that was an intriguing theory, but we are no more certain that George Hodel was the Zodiac killer than when we started the book. Not only that, but two glaring issues stand out that the author did not address: From what we know of Elizabeth Short, the Black Dahlia, she was oftentimes nearly destitute. How, then, was she able to travel to Chicago to investigate the Degnan murder? Second, and even more glaring, the author never addresses the extremely disimilar modus operandi between the Black Dahlia murder and the Zodiac killings. This, to me, is almost laughable if you stop to think about it. George Hodel goes from a killer who likes to pose his victims to match the perverse art of Man Ray to someone who just stands outside a car and shoots victims through a window, not even coming into physical contact with at least four of his victims. These types of killings bear absolutely no resemblance to one another. Yet the author never addresses this in his book. As a senior homicide detective with 20 years on the force, did the thought not occur to him that the killing of Elizabeth Short and David Arthur Faraday/Betty Lou Jensen bear absolutely no commonalities? While I am almost convinced (without the lack of irrefutable physical evidence) that George Hodel killed Elizabeth Short, that he was also the Zodiac killer is a theory based on a series of interesting coincidences and nothing more. It’s too bad that the author grabbed onto this theory, as it really reduces his credibility. A much stronger case could be made that any of the original Zodiac suspects, including Arthur Leigh Allen, was the real thing. That Allen wore a Zodiac watch is more than anything the author was able to find on his father to tie him to the murders, and there was a lot more Allen evidence. Yes, the fact that George Hodel liked The Mikado and the Zodiac quotes from it is very intriguing, but there is a lot of intriguing evidence to tie other suspects to the crimes–more intriguing by far.

• 2. Tybalt  |  December 14th, 2009 at 12:09 pm

  If you are looking for closure for all the questions you have from Avenger, this book isn’t for you. It feels like there should have been a book in between because to are going to learn a grocery list of circumstantial evidence to tie him to the Degnan and Lipstick killings in Chicago and the Zodiac murders in Northern California. The basis of much of his claims hinge on the fact that his father was the Black Dahlia Avenger and we have no clue if he is or isn’t. Mr.Hodel writes with a lot of supposition and many simple things haven’t even been researched at all. The composite on the back of the book is NOT an official SFPD composite. A reader did some amateur sleuthing and discovered that the drawing on the back was done for another book by a comic book illustrator. For people studying the Black Dahlia case, there’s nothing for you in this book. If you follow the Zodiac case, you may be interested but you need to fact check the info. Save your money.

• 3. Anonymous  |  December 14th, 2009 at 1:46 pm

  First off, don’t read this if you haven’t read Hodel’s first book, “Black Dahlia Avenger.” A riveting and convincing chronicle of the author’s dogged investigation into his own father as the Black Dahlia Killer, it’s a compelling and convincing read that merits five stars. This, a sequel of sorts, hangs many other crimes (the Zodiac murders??) on his father, and at times he strains the reader’s credulity to the breaking point. Is it entertaining? Very. Is it convincing? Not very– but I was glad I read it. It’s a quick read and worth the time– but no competition to the very engaging “Black Dahlia Avenger.”

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