Lloyd Hopkins Trilogy

In Blood on the Moon and Because the Night, Lloyd Hopkins clears up murders committed by exceptionally intelligent and organised criminals. The villains in Suicide Hill are much more trivial. The novels revolve around an underlying identification between Hopkins and the murderers.

Conversely, because of his own infringements, Hopkins can never solve his cases and have the villains punished lawfully. Completing his investigations also involves confronting and defeating Fred Gaffaney, who wants Hopkins out of the LAPD for his wayward ways. Thematically, all this means that Hopkins can never obtain professional reward or personal recognition for his accomplishments. From a narrative point of view, it means that the line between main plot and subplot is blurred.

Another aim for Hopkins in the novels is to save his marriage. Of his three daughters, he has a special relationship with Penny.

As early as 1993, Ellroy has indicated that he did not care for Hopkins or the three novels he appeared in. He even went as far as to say that Blood on the Moon is the only previous work to make him cringe when looking back on it.^[3]

Ellroy's take-it-or-leave-it attitude about the character can be seen in the opening to L.A. Noir, an omnibus edition of the three Hopkins novels. Ellroy tells the reader that "I don't care what you think of Hopkins" ^[2]

Actor Tom Hanks stated that he would be interested in playing Lloyd Hopkins if a film or stage adaptation was to be produced.^[4]