Steven Powell is a researcher at the University of Liverpool, UK. He is the editor of Conversations with James Ellroy (2012) and 100 American Crime Writers (2012). He has written several articles for the British Politics Review, blogs about crime fiction at VenetianVase.co.uk, and co-organised the James Ellroy: Visions of Noir conference at the University of Liverpool.

"He writes in a readable way, wears his learning lightly, and puts his discussions with Ellroy to good use. If you are interested in studying Ellroy, this thoughtful ... book will prove a valuable and important resource." (Martin Edwards, Do You Write Under Your Own Name, Doyouwriteunderyourownname.blogspot.de, January, 2016)

• Introduction 1.Lee Earle Ellroy and the Avon Novels 2.The Lloyd Hopkins Novels: Ellroy's Displaced Romantic 3.James Ellroy, Jean Ellroy and Elizabeth Short: The Demon Dog and Transmogrification in The Black Dahlia 4.Developing Noir: The Los Angeles Quartet 5.The Narrative of Secret Histories in the Underworld USA Trilogy Bibliography