It’s always a happy day in this reviewer’s household when a new Elizabeth Sims novel lands on my desk. Easy Street, her latest, is her best yet.

Lillian Byrd is perpetually down on her luck. Work has dried up, her clothes are shabby and falling apart and her romance with the glamorous Minerva LeBlanc has hit a wall. Worse still, her faithful companion Todd, a rabbit, is old and ailing. Things are pretty rough.

This being the world of crime fiction, it’s not long until Lillian gets offered some work, by a retired police officer no less. Erma Porrocks has bought a large house and needs help getting it ready for the renovation team. Lillian, always trying to do the right thing, sub-contracts a homeless alcoholic called Drooly Rick to help her out. Unfortunately things get rather complicated when his body is found soon afterwards, along with a stash of cash, and Erma is badly injured in a hit and run episode.

I’m not going to say too much more about the plot, except that it also involves a sexy femme who might not be all that she seems, and a lot of chasing around. Suffice to say, I read Easy Street in one delicious gulp, it’s a book that just begs you to keep turning the pages.

What sets Sims apart from her contemporaries is the way that she refuses to take her heroine too seriously. Lillian is a bungler, she’s sweet and lovely, but clueless. Some of the best scenes in the book involve a budding romance that any reader could see is probably not a good idea, but towards which Lillian charges ahead regardless.

Sims is also a master of the genre, she knows the conventions and plays with them smartly. Characters don’t turn out to be who you think they are, clichés are subverted, the action doesn’t always end neatly. Nowhere does Sims play with the format better than when Lillian is talking about her affection for Calico Jones, a pulp fiction detective with seemingly superhero powers. But it’s Lillian who is the star compared to such two-dimensional renditions of heroism, her honesty, attempts to do the right thing, bravery and dogged persistence are mark her out.

As always, Sims’ evocation of Lillian’s Detroit neighbourhoods are spot-on and the city, which has plenty of stories and intrigue of its own, becomes a character in its own right. Similarly, whilst I was not a fan of Todd the rabbit at the beginning of the series, I have grown to love him and the games that Lillian plays with him, and there are some scenes in this book regarding this little furry sidekick of which readers of a more gentle persuasion might need to steer clear.

But back to the gushing, Easy Street is plainly brilliant and I can’t wait for more.

Read our latest interview with Elizabeth Sims, plus a past chat where she talks about Holy Hell, and our reviews of her previous books Lucky Stiff and Damn Straight!

Easy Street by Elizabeth Sims
Published by: Alyson Publications
ISBN: 1555839266
Price: £8.99

Love detective fiction? Get Easy Street by Elizabeth Sims. Buy it online and save some money to put towards her earlier crime novels Lucky Stiff and Damn Straight.