Severed: The True Story of the Black Dahlia Murder is a 1994 American historical true crime book by John Gilmore. The book details the life and death of Elizabeth Short, also known as "The Black Dahlia," an infamous murder victim whose mutilated body was found in Leimert Park, Los Angeles in 1947, and whose murder has remained unsolved for decades. According to Gilmore, he was inspired to write the book after having met Elizabeth Short when he was eleven years old. Published in 1994, it was the first and one of the most extensive non-fiction accounts of Elizabeth Short's murder.