New book by famed crime-writer James Ellroy scratches city's underbelly in 'LAPD '53'

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- "LAPD '53" is the first of what could be a series of non-fiction books from the Los Angeles Police Museum archives.

Crime writer James Ellroy and Glynn Martin, executive director of the museum, picked 1953 to co-author the first book because it's the year police started taking a lot of crime scene photos.

PHOTOS: Crime scene images featured in book 'LAPD 53'

Some of the images are not for the faint of heart, and neither are the stories, but Ellroy didn't want the book to feature lurid "splatter" photos, either.

Ellroy and Martin are signing their book at 7:30 p.m. on June 19 at Skylight Books in Los Feliz. For details, head to www.jamesellroy.net/appearances/.