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James Ellroy

(b.1948)

James Ellroy was born in Los Angeles in 1948. He is the author of the acclaimed LA Quartet, The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, LA Confidential and White Jazz, as well as the Underworld USA trilogy: American Tabloid, The Cold Six Thousand and Blood's a Rover. He is the author of one work of non-fiction, The Hilliker Curse: My Pursuit of Women.

Awards: LA Times (2022), Edgar (2015) see all

Genres: Mystery, Historical Mystery

New and upcoming books

June 2026

Red Sheet

Series

Lloyd Hopkins
   1. Blood On the Moon (1984)
   2. Because the Night (1984)
   3. Suicide Hill (1986)

L.A. Quartet
   1. The Black Dahlia (1987)
   2. The Big Nowhere (1988)
   3. L.A. Confidential (1990)
   4. White Jazz (1992)

Underworld U.S.A.
   1. American Tabloid (1995)
   2. The Cold Six Thousand (2001)
   3. Blood's a Rover (2009)

Second L.A. Quartet
1. Perfidia (2013)
2. This Storm (2018)

Novels

   Brown's Requiem (1981)
   Clandestine (1982)
   Killer On the Road (1986)
     aka Silent Terror
   Widespread Panic (2021)
   The Enchanters (2023)
   Red Sheet (2026)

Collections

   Hollywood Nocturnes (1982)
     aka Dick Contino's Blues
   Crime Wave (1999)
   Destination: Morgue (2004)

Anthologies edited

The Best American Noir of the Century (2010) (with Otto Penzler)

Series contributed to

Best American Mystery Stories
The Best American Mystery Stories 2002 (2002) (with Otto Penzler)
The Best American Mystery Stories 3 (2004) (with Otto Penzler)

Non fiction show

Books containing stories by James Ellroy

The Best American Noir of the Century (2010)
edited by
James Ellroy and Otto Penzler

Los Angeles Noir 2 (2010)
The Classics
(Akashic Noir)
edited by
Denise Hamilton

The Mammoth Book of Tales from the Road (2002)
Tales of Life on the Move
(The Mammoth Book of ...)
edited by
Maxim Jakubowski

More books

Awards

	2022 Robert Kirsch Award
	2015 Edgar Award Grand Master
	1997 Falcon Award : White Jazz

Award nominations

	1983 Edgar Award for Best Paperback original (nominee) : Clandestine
	1982 Shamus Award for Best Original PI Paperback (nominee) : Brown's Requiem

James Ellroy recommends

Up with the Sun (2023)
Thomas Mallon
"Thomas Mallon has been America's premier historical novelist for a decade. Up With the Sun cinches the accolade. It's New York City in the aching 80's. The murder of show-biz bottom feeder/monster Dick Kallman and his male lover ramifies throughout the turmoil of the decade--in a stunning hybrid of Tom Wolfe's The Bonfire of the Vanities and frontline reports from a beleaguered gay demimonde. This book packs period pizzazz and heartbreaking intimacy. And, as always with Mallon--it's a page-turning blast."

Every Hidden Thing (2021)
Ted Flanagan
"This is a righteous, hard-charging, bell-ringing, mother-....... debut novel!!!!!"

Born Slippy (2020)
Tom Lutz
"Lutz has the seven deadly sins nailed and rethought for our 2020 world. You've got to dig this book!"

Green Sun (2018)
(Hanson, book 3)
Kent Anderson
"Kent Anderson has crafted a literary miracle here. We're transported to 'Nam and circa-'80 Oakland, reimagined as Hell, seen through the eyes of a crusading cop unique in the annals of police literature. This jazzy - and jazz influenced - novel is like the best of early Joseph Wambaugh."

Bull Mountain (2015)
(Bull Mountain, book 1)
Brian Panowich
"Bull Mountain is a stone gas and a stone winner! It s brother-versus-brother in the dope-damned South. This first novel has it all: moonshine, maryjane and mayhem! Read this book now and succumb to a startling new talent."

Blood on Snow (2015)
(Blood On Snow, book 1)
Jo Nesbø
"I am the world’s greatest living crime writer. [Jo Nesbø] is a man who is snapping at my heels like a rabid pit bull poised to take over my mantle when I dramatically pre-decease him."

Easy Money (2012)
(Stockholm , book 1)
Jens Lapidus
"At last an epic European thriller to rival Stieg Larsson books. It's an entirely new criminal world, beautifully rendered - and a wildly thrilling novel."

The Bad Always Die Twice (2011)
(Nikki Harper mystery, book 1)
Cheryl Crane
"Cheryl Crane has written a superb mystery: rich in milieu, deep in plot twists, constant in the exercise of suspense and surprise. This book is a veritable primer on why people read and love crime fiction."

Guilt By Association (2011)
(Rachel Knight, book 1)
Marcia Clark
"A damn, damn good thriller."

The Twelve (2009)
(Belfast Novels, book 1)
Stuart Neville
"The best first novel I have read in years."

Black Water Rising (2009)
(Jay Porter , book 1)
Attica Locke
"Superlative... the best bad-town novel in some time..."

The Killings of Stanley Ketchel (2005)
James Carlos Blake
"The Killings of Stanley Ketchel is a stunner. This is brilliant iconography, righteous Americans, and brutally powerful prose."

Dirty Sally (2004)
(Dan Reles, book 1)
Michael Simon
"Tough, dark and gritty."

Nightscape (2004)
David Morrell
"Grabs you by the short hairs of your soul and your brain and does not let go."

Bangkok Eight (2003)
(Sonchai Jitpleecheep, book 1)
John Burdett
"Read this book, savor the language - it's the last and the most compelling word in thrillers."

Sleep Toward Heaven (2003)
Amanda Eyre Ward
"Women's death row as you have never seen it; hauntingly rich, wise and sharply etched. In prison parlace: a bonaroo first novel!"

Plainclothes Naked (2001)
(Manny Rupert, book 1)
Jerry Stahl
"Jerry Stahl is the American hipster bard."

Iguana Love (1999)
Vicki Hendricks
"... you wind up baying at the moon like a Florida coon dog."

Heartbreaker (1999)
Robert Ferrigno
"Dark... hilarious... with a wild sense of place."

Book Deal (1997)
(John Deal, book 4)
Les Standiford
"...kingpin of the South Florida crime novel."

Brand New Cherry Flavor (1996)
Todd Grimson
"The hippest writer in America today!"

Dog Eat Dog (1996)
Edward Bunker
"Edward Bunker is a true original of American letters. His ...books are criminal classics: novels about criminals, written by an ex-criminal, from the unregenerately criminal viewpoint."

The River Sorrow (1994)
Craig Holden
"Brilliant... this is a book that oozes power."

Dead Folks' Blues (1992)
(Harry James Denton, book 1)
Steven Womack
"A deft, atmosphere-rich novel - smart, funny, and filled with a sense of wry heartbreak. Steven Womack's Nashville stands out - it is a beautifully drawn backdrop."

Box Nine (1992)
(Quinsigamond, book 1)
Jack O'Connell
"Hyper-real noir. A grotesque romance about genocide, language, bibliomania, doubt, obsession, worms, epidermis and sanctuary!"

Telling Lies (1992)
(Maggie MacGowen, book 1)
Wendy Hornsby
"Deft and moving... Telling Lies is sad, funny, genuinely big-hearted, and rendered with righteous snap."

Muscle For The Wing (1988)
(Rene Shade, book 2)
Daniel Woodrell
"Daniel Woodrell is stone brilliant ... a bayou Dutch Leonard steeped in rich Louisiana language."

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