Holy Hell

Lillian Byrd is a small-time reporter with a flair for making big-time mistakes—like getting fired for fending off the boss's son with an X-Acto knife and breaking up with her girlfriend for no good reason—so her investigation into the disappearances of women in the Detroit area might not be the best idea. But when one of the missing women turns up dead and Lillian recognizes the bizarrely mutilated corpse, she's in too deep to get out. Of course, it doesn't help that she's still fighting off the boss's son and ducking the intensely aggressive amorous overtures of the roughest dyke in town. Now, after simultaneously blowing the case for the police and revealing herself to the off-kilter killers, she's completely on her own. Can she catch the murderers before they catch up with her?"In the wisecracking tradition of Janet Evanovich, Elizabeth Sims brings us a delightfully down-to-earth character in Lillian Byrd, a woman who refuses to take herself too seriously, even in the face of serious threats of grievous bodily harm. Sims's tight plot, delicious irony, crisp dialogue, and colorful cast make Holy Hell not only an impressive first novel, but an honest-to-God page-turner." —Lauren Maddison, author of Deceptions and Witchfire