Black Dahlia is a suspense thriller based loosely on the unsolved California murder of Elizabeth Short, nicknamed "Black Dahlia" for her favoritism towards black clothing. The game is a point-and-click puzzle-solving adventure with live action cutscenes. Full 360 degree horizontal and limited vertical panning allow the player to scan each scene with the mouse. Jim's in-game notebook acts as a journal as it records everything of importance that he has examined. Black Dahlia has over sixty puzzles dispersed over nearly as many locations. They range in difficulty, style and type including jigsaw, manipulation, code breaking, mazes and object based. Well publicized bypass codes can be used to "auto-solve" them without compromising the game, since no score is kept.

Taking place in the 1940s, the game puts the player in control of a rookie government agent, Jim Pearson, whose first case involves investigating Nazi propaganda. The case is not as simple as it sounds, however. Before long, Jim uncovers information and evidence that the Nazis have connections to the supernatural, occultism as well as some very bizarre and ritualistic killings. Jim meets Elizabeth Short who possesses a strange engraved stone known as the "Black Dahlia", an artifact coveted by the Nazis as a source of ultimate power. When her brutal murder occurs, the stone disappears. During Jim's search for the missing item, he uncovers a web of evil, deceit and intrigue. Will he get out alive .. and uncorrupted?