Holy Hell: A Lillian Byrd Crime Story

Rating:
Summary: Supreme work of fiction
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: more, more!!!
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Supreme work of fiction
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Wow
Review: Killer of a first novel. Smart, funny and very engaging. You won't regret buying this mystery.

Rating:
Summary: A Rollicking Good Mystery
Review: Lillian Byrd's life is in flux. She's worked for four years at Detroit's "Eagle Eye" newspaper covering various subjects including the crime scene, but after the owner's son manhandles her one too many times and she retaliates, she gets fired. Bad timing. She'd been working on a story about the murder of a woman who had worked as a DJ at the local lesbian bar Lillian sometimes frequented. Now Lillian won't get a chance to write the story. Still, she can't let the murder rest; she has to know why the woman was killed.

What follows is a rollicking good mystery as Lillian attempts to make sense of the oddities of the crime. Why would the killer remove some of the dead woman's teeth? Does this case connect to the seemingly unrelated disappearances of other women in the area? Who is this mysterious "Jean" anyway, and why would anyone kill her?

HOLY HELL is aptly named as some of the wacky suspects in the story are freakish about the Bible. Sims writes the book in first person, and self-assured, wise-cracking amateur detective Lillian has tremendous Voice. The novel also has unstoppable narrative drive, and I dare readers not to read the book in one sitting. I couldn't put it down and am looking forward to the next book in the series, DAMN STRAIGHT. Don't miss the beginning of what is sure to be an entertaining series. ~Lori L. Lake, Midwest Book Review and The Independent Gay Writer


Rating:
Summary: Couldn't Put It Down
Review: This book was a great read: engaging and entertaining. It pulls you in and makes you care about the characters. It keeps you guessing. It makes you smile, and makes you cry (dammit). I read it in one sitting...I just had to finish it before I went to bed!

Rating:
Summary: Amazing!
Review: This is a great book! I could not put it down. It was twisted enough to keep me interested with plenty of humor thrown in along with good old fasioned sexual tension. Lillian Byrd is a three dimensional character, a woman who doesn't take crap from anyone. Buy this book! You'll love it!

Rating:
Summary: more, more!!!
Review: while not the most gripping novel i have ever read it is damn close. thanks elizabeth for a wonderful beginning. you have acomplished what another major writer with a number series has only dreamt about. great, believable characters, with real honesty.

Rating:
Summary: To call this book garbage would be a compliment
Review: Why is it that since "Silence of the Lambs", a GOOD book, every killer has to be fixated on stealing body parts? The seqence about the teeth in this book is totally ridiculous, as are several other plot devices. True, there are unexpected twists, but the twists are only unexpected because they're implausible and downright insulting to any reader of intelligence. Plot holes prevail, and the author writes sex scenes as if she's still a virgin. I only finished this novel because I paid full price for it at the book store, which was a mistake. BOOOOOO!