Review
"I read Easy Street in one delicious gulp. It's a book that just begs you to keep turning the pages. Sims is also a master of the genre, she knows the conventions and plays with them smartly."
-Charlotte Cooper, RainbowNetwork.com
"Violent and hilarious. Lillian is a true original."
-KIRKUS REVIEWS (unpaid review)
"You'll be happy to know that Lillian has returned in all her dry, witty splendor to pull us all into yet another totally enjoyable and satisfying mystery."
-Lynne Jamneck, THE L LIFE LITERATURE REVIEW
"Sims's writing deserves to burst from the confines of gay literature to be accepted by mainstream readers who might otherwise overlook the work of this excellent and entertaining author."
-Denise Pickles, MARY MARTIN BOOKSHOP REVIEW (Australia)
"Great characters, superb storytelling, and an interesting mystery. This one is not to be missed."
-Angel Curtis, OUT SMART MAGAZINE (Houston, Texas)
From the Author
Q: The fourth in your series of Lillian Byrd crime novels begins at a hotel in Detroit and ends on a boat in the Atlantic Ocean. Did you have a good time writing it?
A: I had a blast with this one. Lillian not only gets around, she finds it necessary to adopt various strategic identities: a veterinary professional in Cleveland, the adopted daughter of a Chippewa medicine woman in Boise, and a slutty marina chick in Ft. Lauderdale. Lillian's luck is always hard, but it gets even worse in this adventure. It all starts at a retirement party for Erma Porrocks, a detective she's known for years. At the party it's clear to Porrocks that Lillian's so poverty-stricken that she isn't even eating enough, so Porrocks tries to help her by paying her to help renovate her house. Lillian makes the critical mistake of trying to help someone else in turn, which leads to mysterious death and chaos.
Q: Death and chaos--typical Lillian themes.
A: Yes, and given the strength of Lillian's conscience and her sense of loyalty, she's got to avenge the violence and clean up the mess.
Q: There's hidden treasure involved. How did you get the idea for that?
A: I have an impressive collection of trashy true-crime books, and in one of them I read about Prohibition-era gangsters hiding money in the walls of their hangout. I thought how interesting it would be for somebody's hidden stash to make trouble for a down-and-out person who stumbles upon it. So I took that ball and ran with it, to use the kind of cliché I avoid in my writing. Hm, I might better say, I took that cup of sugar and made my own cake with it.
Q: Very good.
A: Thank you. Lillian herself only finds the dregs of this treasure, and she has to figure out what it was doing there and why it led to someone's death. Pretty quickly she realizes that Porrocks, the owner of the house, might be in danger, and soon after that she realizes that she herself isn't safe.
Q: What parts of Detroit do we get to know in this book?
A: We learn a little bit about Wyandotte, a community south of Detroit right on the Detroit River, where Porrocks's house is. There's a river-style boathouse on the property. We also get to see more of the Detroit street-people scene, which I explored a little in Lillian's previous adventure, LUCKY STIFF. The character of Drooly Rick is much more complete in this book.
You see, he's this unfortunate, gentle loser, a more or less functional alcoholic who nevertheless tries to hold a life together for himself and his girlfriend. Street people have goals just like everybody else, only theirs are usually very short-term. Drooly Rick wants to help his girlfriend buy a bus ticket to Tennessee, and Lillian tries to help him buy it, but it leads to--well, to something very unfortunate.
Q: The best intentions...
A: I guess you could call that a recurring theme as well. We also have greed, deception, self-delusion, and of course, love. Lillian meets this incredibly hot neighbor of Porrocks's and falls into this passionate affair. This neighbor is incredibly helpful to Lillian, up to a point. I don't want to spoil it.
Q: There's a very funny, yet terribly sad, scene where Lillian poses as a Chippewa shaman in order to extract information from a paraplegic Native American wannabe.
A: Yes, Lillian must overcome her pity for this poor person in a wheelchair and ruthlessly manipulate her into telling her a secret. Whenever Lillian assumes a false identity, it's for the purpose of getting at the truth. She is good at figuring out other people's weaknesses and vanities, and she uses these to get what she wants from them. Basically, she's learned that most people love to be flattered, they love to be listened to, they love to think they've got a new friend or a new champion. Well, who doesn't? But the thing is, while most people are quite skeptical about any number of things, when it comes to their vanity and pet ideas, they are not at all skeptical. Not at all on their guard against treachery. Lillian exploits this fact, using the full powers of her creativity and sense of justice.
Q: In this book, the Calico Jones story becomes almost a sub-plot in itself. Do you have fun with that as well?
A: You're referring to the cheesy detective fiction Lillian loves. Yes, she reads another Calico Jones book and finds tremendous inspiration in the boldness and glamour of the heroine. She absolutely moons over the athletic, competent, sexy Calico Jones. Lillian becomes totally absorbed by the story, and yet she can never remember the name of the author. It's just a little perversity I like to throw in.
Q: You also like to poke fun at politically correct attitudes.
A: Yes, I have to find release somehow. Calico Jones helps me do it.
Q: What made you decide to bring back the character of Lou?
A: Lou, a female animal control officer in Detroit, first appeared in HOLY HELL. I decided I liked her so much I'd want to bring her into another book, and it just worked out. Readers love Lou--she's this mush-hearted giant of a butch who doesn't quite know how to go about getting the love she deserves. When I got back the line edit of the manuscript, I found that my editor, Angela Brown (then of Alyson Books), had written in the margin, "The glorious return of Lou!" Lillian's friend Billie, the red-haired waitress, also comes back in this one. Enjoy the book!
