He described his bestselling book, The Black Dahlia, as a “salutary ode” to the Hollywood starlet who was murdered in 1947 and an “embrace” of his mother, who met the same fate in 1958.

He said: “My mother’s name was Geneva. She haunts me in unfathomable ways. She was beautiful. She met a man. She was drunk. She said ‘yes’ or ‘no’ or ‘maybe’ or some encoded combination. He raped and killed her. Her death corrupted my imagination.”

The novelist was speaking at the Venice Film Festival, where Brian De Palma’s screen adaptation of his book was given its world premiere.

The film stars Scarlett Johansson, whose famous curves proved diverting for some critics. One told her that she exuded so much sex appeal that it could distract audiences from the plot.

She replied: “It’s nice to be considered sexy, but I try not to think about the sexiness. And I never think about it being distracting.”

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