What does it take to write a good mystery novel? Is it difficult to think like a murderer? Does it take its toll on one’s mental health? Or does it allow those already affected or even damaged by crime to channel those feelings in new and creative ways? The new series “Murder by the Book” (9 p.m., Court TV) examines the works of America’s favorite and most acclaimed crime writers as well as the true-crime stories that inspired them. Over the course of the next five weeks, “Murder” will offer viewers a look at the cases that captivated and provoked celebrated writers James Ellroy, Michael Connelly, Faye and Jonathan Kellerman and Lisa Scottoline.

Tonight, Ellroy returns to the scene of a crime very close to his heart, mind and scarred psyche, the 1958 rape and murder of his mother. Just 10 years old at the time, Ellroy was affected deeply by the event and would investigate the crime and brood about its impact in the 1996 novel “My Dark Places.”

In this “By the Book” hour, Ellroy is adamantly, even disturbingly, honest about his conflicted feelings for his mother, an alcoholic beauty who had divorced Ellroy’s father and who frequented the seedier bars in the neighborhood. Ellroy began his quest to understand his mother’s murder decades later, and after he had published his quartet of Los Angeles-based crime novels, “The Black Dahlia,” “The Big Nowhere,” “L.A. Confidential” and “White Jazz.”

“Murder” combines scenes of Ellroy and police investigators looking into the decades-old crime with cinematic re-creations of Los Angeles in the 1950s and the reported action of the victim and suspects. This “Murder” reaches an emotional climax of sorts when police stumble upon the original evidence from the crime scene and allow Ellroy to examine the murder weapon and the dress his mother wore on the night she died. He claims he can smell her and her perfume. Is that Ellroy the novelist speaking or Ellroy the son?

Tonight’s other highlights

¢ Lincoln’s painful choice on “Prison Break” (7 p.m., Fox).

¢ Class-presidency problems on “Everybody Hates Chris” (7 p.m., CW).

¢ A great white shark terrorizes a resort town in the 1975 summer blockbuster “Jaws” (7 p.m., AMC).

¢ Carolina hosts Tampa Bay in NFL action (7:30 p.m., ESPN).

¢ A birthday party proves revealing on “The Class” (7:30 p.m., CBS).

¢ Dreams portend problems on “Heroes” (8 p.m., NBC).

¢ A run on the beach on “Two and a Half Men” (8 p.m., CBS).

¢ Fingerprint evidence points to a guilty verdict on “Justice” (8 p.m., Fox).

¢ “American Experience” (PBS, check local listings) celebrates the legend of the West with back-to-back repeats of “Jesse James” (9 p.m.) and “Annie Oakley” (9 p.m.).

¢ A kidnapping hits close to home on “CSI: Miami” (9 p.m., CBS).

¢ John Goodman guest stars as an angry small-town sheriff on “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” (9 p.m., NBC).

¢ Eulogies for Angelo on “What About Brian” (9 p.m., ABC).

¢ Customized leather poses special problems for the wizards on “American Chopper” (9 p.m., Discovery).

¢ “Biography” (10 p.m., Biography) profiles Pat Tillman, the NFL player who joined the armed forces and died in combat.