Holy Hell: A Lillian Byrd Crime Story [Paperback]

Elizabeth Sims (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2002

Lillian Byrd is a small-time reporter with a flair for making big-time mistakes--so her investigation into the disappearances of women around the Detroit area might not be the best idea. But when one of the victims turns up dead and Lillian recognizes the curiously mutilated corpse, she is in too deep to get out. 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?
 

Editorial Reviews

Review

Midwest Book Review
"A rollicking good mystery!"
-Lori L. Lake, author

SacredGround.com
"Holy Hell 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's Lillian Byrd and a bizarre realism to the individuals she encounters."
-Joy Parks

RainbowNetwork.com
"A real page-turner."
-Charlotte Cooper

BookDyke / TechnoDyke.com
"Holy Hell is the debut of a new wisecracking sleuth by the name of Lillian Byrd, and after reading it, I am certainly looking forward to watching the evolution of this character in future books by author Elizabeth Sims."
-Nicole Blizzard

"I flat out loved this book."
-Sheryl LeSage
LibertyPress.net (Kansas)

From the Author

Q: You can only be a first novelist once. What made you take the leap and start writing?

A: All my life I'd wanted to be a novelist, but I kept trying to avoid it. I tried to work it off on other things: I wrote for a local newspaper, I wrote technical manuals for a machine company, I wrote training videos for a bank, I wrote press releases for a bedwetting clinic, I wrote little poems and stories for little magazines, I wrote book reviews, I enrolled in graduate school and wrote papers about novels, I got a job in a book shop and sold novels written by other people. I really tried to avoid writing a novel.

Q: Then what happened?

A: I finally thought, OK, I won't write a real novel, I'll just write a sleazy little short lesbian crime story with lots of sex, wait, no, I'll write a dozen of them, and they'll sell like mad, and I'll be able to quit this job in the book shop, and I won't have to write a real novel. So Holy Hell started out as a cold-blooded, exploitative exercise. But a funny thing happened: the more I worked on it, the more fun I had with it, the more respect I began to have for the process--and for myself. I'm delighted with the result.
 
Q: You mentioned having been a reporter. Your main character, Lillian Byrd, is also a reporter. Did you base her on yourself, and were there events you covered that suggested the plot for Holy Hell?

A: Lillian possesses an amalgamation of traits I know I have, traits I wish I didn't have, and traits I'd like to have.

Q: Like what?

A: She's a bit impulsive--which I can be. She's good at messing up. I think people who know me know that even though I'm supposedly smart, I can mess up terribly. Lillian makes bad decisions, but she's principled, she always tries to do the right thing. She's unsure of herself, yet forges ahead in spite of it. And she's tenacious. You know, being a journalist, even in a small-time situation, you get a window into all the little lies and vanities people allow themselves. And, you see the small heroic acts that happen every day, the moments of integrity and kindness that make life bearable. Lillian is an observer of these things.

Q: She isn't very glamorous.

A: No! I wanted to write about a heroine who isn't glamorous and doesn't want to be. Part of the appeal of Lillian's character--I think--I hope--comes from the fact that she's very Midwestern. People from the Midwest tend to be upbeat. People from the Midwest are politely impressed when they're expected to be. People from the Midwest like plain food. People from the Midwest don't have that awful sense of smug self-importance you run into so dismayingly often on both coasts. I'm generalizing, of course. I hope Lillian stays humble. If she started to act like a hotshot, I'd hate her.

You asked whether any events I covered suggested events in Holy Hell. I wanted to capitalize on things I'd seen and wondered about. When I was a reporter, I covered only one body-dumping, and it was about the most unusual thing I covered, and so a body-dumping is how Holy Hell starts. Then, I'd always wondered just how pathological someone who couldn't handle her sexual orientation could get, and so we have a pair of twisted villains whose very first sin was being unable to love themselves.

Q: There's something ulterior about the humor in Holy Hell.

A: I think pure honesty makes people laugh. When you blurt out something like, "I'm only nice to her because she's homelier than me," people laugh, because you're admitting things we usually spends tons of effort hiding. I try to pay tribute to that in my work. We exhaust ourselves trying to appear so good, so confident. So it's an aberration to voluntarily expose yourself as being otherwise. People love that! Poor us! We're all so insecure!

Q: What do you think you'll accomplish with your writing?

A: I hope to achieve world peace. I hope I make my readers happy. I hope I give them pleasure. It's a rare pleasure to me to read sharp, well-crafted, unpretentious writing--and if people think my books are like that, then I'm happy. I do have other ambitions: I dream of writing a novel of massive literary significance. I know, however, that if you sit down to write something massively significant, what you usually wind up with is crap. It's a delicate process, one I'm exploring with humble expectations. It's slow. For me, that's good.

Q: Who's your favorite author?

A: Flannery O'Connor. I've read every word of hers, including her letters and occasional pieces. She was sure-handed, screamingly funny, and grotesquely tragic, all at the same time. Her work is overlooked a lot because she didn't write about typical relationships and typical angst, but that's why I like her so much. She just wrote about what interested her: why are people moved to do what they do? Why do people spend so much energy searching for God, and for the devil? I'd like to add that Joyce Carol Oates's bizarre early short stories had an influence on me, though I'm not sure exactly what. I'd sit in my room reading them over and over, then I'd walk down to the shopping center and stare at the people, trying to read their strange, secret thoughts.

Q: What other writers do you admire?

A: Well, you know, it's hard for me to admire other living writers, because my enviousness of them for their success is so intense. But I've enjoyed a couple of short story writers, Julie Hecht and George Saunders. I'm grateful to them for their writing. I guess this sounds odd, but I don't read many mysteries.

Q: Why not?

A: Oh, God, here goes. Because so many of them are plodding and cliched. Totally devoid of style and grace. If I read "a rat the size of a cat" one more time, I'll throw up. Same with "the place was crawling with cops" and "her green eyes flashed".

Q: Who are some of these lousy writers?

A: Oh no, I can't possibly insult another writer in public. Even lousy writers have feelings. And fans.

Q: What can you tell us about Damn Straight, the sequel to Holy Hell?

A: This one starts on a dark and stormy night. Lillian makes her way West to help out an old friend, and gets mixed up with an LPGA golfer, who seems to be hiding a dangerous secret. Take a look!

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Alyson Books; 1st edition (January 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555836534
• ISBN-13: 978-1555836535
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,406,399 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Elizabeth Sims is an American author and writing authority. Her novels include the Lambda Award-winning Lillian Byrd Crime Series and the Rita Farmer Mystery Series, and she has written short stories, poems, and essays for numerous publications.

As a Contributing Editor at Writer's Digest magazine she specializes in the art and craft of fiction. Through her articles, in-person workshops, and online teaching, she has helped thousands of fledgling authors find their wings.

Elizabeth holds degrees in English from Michigan State University and Wayne State University, where she won the Tompkins Award for graduate fiction. A former newspaper reporter and bookseller, she's also a member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and American Mensa.

To learn more about her and to view a full list of her available works, including free excerpts and book discussion guides, visit www.elizabethsims.com.

Facebook Author Page:
http://www.facebook.com/Elizabeth.Sims.Author

Follow Elizabeth on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/ESimsAuthor

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Holy Hell scores big for suspense and characterization, April 23, 2002

By 

Emma Romey "Emma" (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Holy Hell: A Lillian Byrd Crime Story (Paperback)

Be sure you have some time because you won't want to put this original murder mystery down. This beautifully written Lillian Bird novel gathers momentum as it goes. Join Lillian in her pursuit for justice as she challenges Bucky with an X-Acto knife, meets Minerva for dinner at the Great Enchilada Place by the Bridge, and encounters danger from other quirky characters. Elizabeth Sims maintains suspense well with surprises for even the veteran mystery reader. Will Minerva survive for another book? Is Lou just a big puppy dog or a vicious stalker? What crime will Lillian Byrd solve next?

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Supreme work of fiction, July 18, 2002

By 

Margaret A. Helms (Kingsport, TN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Holy Hell: A Lillian Byrd Crime Story (Paperback)

I'd never heard of Elizabeth Simms before finding "Holy Hell" reviewed along side my own book. The story sounded so interesting that I had to read it! Simms is a master at character development and weaves a plot with just enough twists and turns to keep the reader enthralled without getting overly complicated. Lillian Byrd is a fascinating character, and I hope we haven't seen the last of her. As long as Simms keeps writing, I'll keep reading.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars holy heaven, June 28, 2002

By 

"kimba22" (Orlando, FL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Holy Hell: A Lillian Byrd Crime Story (Paperback)

i finished reading HOLY HELL a few minutes ago... i'm not sure what time i started reading it, but i've only had it since late last night! don't start reading it unless you have the time to finish it, because--trust me--you WON'T want to put it down! HOLY HELL is a gripping novel with enough twists and tension (of a few kinds) to make your head swim with delight! the characters are well-developed and even the ones who are only in the book briefly will make you fall in love with them... definitely an impressive first novel--can't wait to see lillian take on more crimes in the future! kudos to elizabeth sims!