The third novel in The L.A. Quartet. L.A. Confidential is one of the most beloved and influential crime novels ever written.

“Nobody in this generation matches the breadth and depth of James Ellroy’s way with noir.” —Detroit News


Christmas 1951, Los Angeles: a city where the police are as corrupt as the criminals.

Six prisoners are beaten senseless in their cells by cops crazed on alcohol. Three LAPD detectives get involved: Ed Exley wants to eclipse his policeman father’s success. Bud White watched his own mother’s murder—and is now a time bomb with a badge. Jack Vincennes shakes down movie stars for a scandal magazine.

These events will expose the guilty secrets on which they have built their corrupt and violent careers. The three men are caught in a deadly spiral, a nightmare that tests loyalty and courage, and offers no mercy, grants no survivors.

L.A. Confidential is one of the most beloved and influential crime novels ever written.


“Faster than a stray bullet. . . . Ellroy spares no sensibilities.” —Los Angeles Times