Blood on the Moon (1984) Signed First Edition Reference

Blood on the Moon introduced Lloyd Hopkins — the brilliant, damaged LAPD detective who would anchor Ellroy’s first trilogy. Published by Mysterious Press in 1984, the novel follows Hopkins as he hunts a serial killer who has been murdering women across Los Angeles for over a decade. The book established Ellroy’s relationship with Otto Penzler’s Mysterious Press, which would become his primary publisher through the L.A. Quartet.

The Book

Lloyd Hopkins is a prototype for the driven, morally compromised lawmen who populate Ellroy’s later fiction: brilliant at his work, catastrophic in his personal life, willing to bend or break every rule to close a case. The serial killer plot is well-crafted, but Hopkins himself is the book’s real achievement — a character whose intensity and complexity elevated Ellroy above the serial-killer-thriller pack.

First Edition Identification

Publisher: Mysterious Press, New York Publication date: 1984 Format: Hardcover in dust jacket

Signed Copy Market Values

• Signed first edition, fine/fine: $200–$500
• Inscribed copies: $250–$700
• Unsigned first edition: $30–$100

The first Lloyd Hopkins novel carries appeal as the beginning of a trilogy and as Ellroy’s Mysterious Press debut. Signed copies are scarce for this pre-fame period.