Elizabeth Sims elizabethsims.com

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  • Holy Hell

    "A rollicking good mystery." —Lori L. Lake, Midwest Book Review

  • Damn Straight

    "Your evening read will keep you up 'til dawn." —Whitney Scott, Booklist

  • Lucky Stiff

    "Colorful episodes involving trailer parks and luxury cars." Kirkus Reviews

  • Easy Street

    "Sims has created one of those heroines who you wouldn't like to be but you'd like as a friend." —Sharon Wheeler, Reviewing the Evidence

  • Left Field

    "You'll be surprised over and over." —Caroline McCullagh, Mensa Bulletin

  • I am Calico Jones

    "Each of these four stories is a tiny gem." —Neil S. Plakcy, author

  • You've Got a Book in You

    "The approach is always positive and well worth the price of admission." —Ellen Hart, award-winning author

  • The Actress

    "A page-turner from stem to stern." Kirkus Reviews

  • The Extra

    "Goes down easy, like a perfect cup of coffee." Crimespree Magazine

  • On Location

    "A fast-paced, atmospheric mystery. Sims shines." —Melinda Bargreen, The Seattle Times

  • Crimes in a Second Language

    "Spot on dialog and well drawn female characters." —Ryan G. Van Cleave, Scene Magazine

  • Holy Hell

    "Byrd is a very likable amateur sleuth and Sims is a really entertaining storyteller." —Andrea L.T. Peterson, Woman's Monthly

  • Damn Straight

    "Appealing characters, and a rabbit mascot." Library Journal

  • Lucky Stiff

    "A nerve-tingling thriller, rich with characterization and humour." —Vancouver BC Public Library

  • Easy Street

    "Hilarious. Lillian is a true original." Kirkus Reviews

  • Left Field

    "Unforgettable characters, lovely moments and brilliant dialogue." The Lesbian Review

  • You've Got a Book in You

    "Elizabeth Sims proves herself a true writer's friend." —Jamie Morris, Director, Voice Heart Vision

  • The Actress

    "Sims' wry commentary on life in Hollywood is dead-on." Publishers Weekly

  • The Extra

    "An intelligent thriller." —Jay Strafford, Richmond Times-Dispatch

  • On Location

    "You just have to love Rita." Kirkus Reviews

  • Crimes in a Second Language

    "Sims is a master of word choice, sentence structure, and plot development." Mensa Bulletin

  • Holy Hell

    "I flat out loved this book." —Sheryl LeSage, Liberty Press

  • Go-Go Day

    "ANYONE assessing America’s best short story writers needs to include Elizabeth Sims." New Pop Lit

  • Damn Straight

    "Much charm and deprecating humor." Kirkus Reviews

  • Lucky Stiff

    "A nifty little puzzle solved by a most intriguing female detective." —Rex E. Klett, Library Journal

  • Easy Street

    "Don't overlook the work of this excellent and entertaining author." —Denise Pickles, Mary Martin Bookshop

  • Left Field

    "What more could a reader ask for?" —Cheri Fuller and Nikki Little, Curve Magazine

  • I am Calico Jones

    "The quality of writing and the entertainment value are high." —W Spice

  • You've Got a Book in You

    "Packs a twelve-week writing course into 280 pages." —Julie Compton,
    author of Keep No Secrets

  • The Actress

    "Intricate and surprising, this is a gripping read." —Kristine Huntley, Booklist

  • The Extra

    "The two leads, Rita and George, are engaging and believable." —Hallie Ephron, Boston Globe

  • On Location

    "Sims orchestrates the action—and occasional comic relief—for maximum impact." Publishers Weekly

  • Crimes in a Second Language

    Awarded the Silver Medal in general fiction. —Florida Book Awards, April 11, 2018

The Lillian Byrd Crime Series

by Elizabeth Sims

All 6 Lillian Byrd books are now available on Audible. And all are narrated by actress Dina Pearlman
THE LILLIAN BYRD CRIME NOVELS 1-3 by Elizabeth Sims

The Lillian Byrd Crime Novels 1-3


Lillian Byrd Crime Series books 1-3

Published 2019 by Spruce Park Press

"Elizabeth Sims offers readers a rare combination of a good mystery plot with solid writing, whole characters and dialogue that doesn’t sound like it’s been wrenched out of a bad made-for-TV-movie. There’s a wonderful irreverence to Sims' Lillian Byrd and a bizarre realism to the individuals she encounters." —Joy Parks

This is a collection of the first three Lillian Byrd Crime Novels by Elizabeth Sims. They're all here, full and complete!
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HOLY HELL by Elizabeth Sims


Holy Hell


Lillian Byrd Crime Series book 1

Published 2002 by Alyson Books

"Read it. You'll love it. You'll want more." —Liberty Press

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 around the Detroit area might not be the best idea. But when one of the missing women turns up dead and Lillian recognizes the curiously 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 attentions of the roughest dyke in town. Now, after simultaneously blowing the case for the police and revealing herself to the killers, she is completely on her own. Can she catch the murderers before they catch up with her?
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DAMN STRAIGHT by Elizabeth Sims


Damn Straight


Lillian Byrd Crime Series book 2

Published 2003 by Alyson Books

Lambda Literary Award, Elizabeth Sims Lambda Literary Award Winner

"A sassy, smart, ultimately thoughtful thriller." —Booklist

After her narrow brush with death in Holy Hell, you'd think Lillian Byrd would have learned to keep her head down, but when a friend in crisis calls from California, Lillian jumps on a plane and wings her way from Detroit to Palm Springs—and danger. It's the long weekend of the Dinah Shore golf tournament, the wildest women's sporting event in the world, when thousands of lesbians descend on the desert community of Rancho Mirage and take over. At a pre-championship party, Lillian leaps into a slippery romance with a top LPGA star. But her superstar athlete has a secret: Someone is quietly terrorizing her. Lillian, eager to help, goes undercover as a high-profile reporter, an unhinged nun, and a professional caddie while uncovering layer after disturbing layer of the golfer’s past. Finally, with violence erupting at every turn, Lillian uncovers her lover's ultimate horrifying secret—and it is not at all what she had guessed.
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LUCKY STIFF by Elizabeth Sims


Lucky Stiff


Lillian Byrd Crime Series book 3

Published 2004 by Alyson Books

"A flawless narrative... A nifty little puzzle solved by a most intriguing female detective." —Library Journal

Once again Lillian Byrd is down on her luck, strumming her mandolin for spare quarters alongside Blind Lonnie, Detroit's resident blues guitarist. But a chance encounter with her childhood friend Duane is about to completely turn her life on its heels. One summer night when Lillian was 12, flames ripped through the Polka Dot, a bar owned and run by her parents. Three bodies were found in the ashes: those of her mother, her father, and the barmaid, Trix Hawley. Or so Lillian has always thought. But when Lillian and Duane put their stories together, the past erupts into a wild enigma. As the two friends travel—accompanied by the tenacious crime writer Minerva LeBlanc—to the underbelly of Las Vegas to find the truth about their parents, Lillian must face the demons of the past in ways she never dreamed possible.
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EASY STREET by Elizabeth Sims


Easy Street


Lillian Byrd Crime Series book 4

Published 2005 by Alyson Books

"Lillian is a true original." —Kirkus Reviews

Her old Caprice is convulsing through the last of its death throes, her pet rabbit and constant companion Todd ails, and as usual Lillian Byrd is flat broke. For a few extra bucks she agrees to help an old friend renovate her house, but as you know, nothing ever goes smoothly in the life of Lillian Byrd. By the end of the first day on the job there's a partially demolished wall, a mysterious stash of cash, and a dead body. And Lillian's attentions have been diverted by the appearance of a drop-dead gorgeous neighbor.
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LEFT FIELD by Elizabeth Sims


Left Field


Lillian Byrd Crime Series book 5

Published 2014 by Spruce Park Press

2015 GCLS Literary Award Winner 2015 Golden Crown Literary Award, Elizabeth Sims
Left Field, won a Goldie at the herstoric GCLS Conference in New Orleans.

"What more could a reader ask for?" —Curve Magazine

Lillian Byrd has been searching her soul after the gut-wrenching experience of killing someone in self-defense. Scrabbling to make ends meet, she takes a job as a quasi detective, solving life’s little mysteries for a pair of eccentric women in one of Detroit’s last prestigious neighborhoods. When she spots a corpse on the next-door lawn, she jumps back into honest work as an investigative journalist.

Her friend Mercedes reveals that the dead woman, Abby Rawson, played on a women’s softball team she manages and pressures Lillian into taking her spot. Softball turns to hardball when Lillian not only plunges into a love affair with the team’s sought-after pitcher but also goes undercover as an exterminator, a squatter, and a charity worker to investigate Abby’s death and the corrupt medical organization she worked for. No one on the team is above suspicion, and as they get closer to snagging the coveted championship title—and Lillian gets closer to discovering the dark truth behind Abby’s murder—she fights to keep her new love in her life and literally save her own.

Filled with Lillian Byrd’s trademark snark, nail-biting twists and turns, and a thrilling climax, Left Field scores a grand slam that’ll leave readers cheering in the stands.

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TIGHT RACE by Elizabeth Sims


Tight Race


Lillian Byrd Crime Series book 6

Published 2022 by Spruce Park Press

"A cracking story" — Amazon reviewer

For once, life is good for Lillian Byrd: She’s working as the media liaison for Detroit mayoral candidate Leon Sorrel, and getting paid for it, too! But she’s courting danger by conducting a torrid affair with the married campaign manager, Marie Chamberlain. After discovering Marie and her husband dead in a catastrophic double murder, Lillian lands in a soup of suspicion, and Sorrel’s in trouble too.
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