Let`s get this damn straight before I start: I hate golf, okay? I don`t just hate it, I hate it! Now that we`ve got that sorted you can imagine how low my spirits sank when I found out that Elizabeth Sims` new novel was set at the Dinah Shore Weekend, the biggest lesbian golfing event in the universe.

Last year Sims published her debut Lillian Byrd crime story, `Holy Hell,` which was brilliant, sharp, clever and compelling. This year she chose to go the golf route, "Oh well," I thought, "I can always throw the book across the room and stamp it into the ground if I don`t like it." Luckily, once I was past the first page, the book was so good that I didn`t need to throw any tantrums.

The plot of `Damn Straight` goes something like this: Lillian Byrd gets called from Detroit to LA by her best friend Truby, who is undergoing a personal crisis. Truby gets them both invited to a party hosted by a pair of swanky lesbians who are big on the golf circuit and Lillian meets Genie Maychild, the favourite to win the forthcoming Dinah Shore Open. During a whirlwind fling Lillian finds out that somebody is terrorising her new girlfriend, so she decides to find out why. I can`t say much more than this without giving away some of the plot.

What makes Sims` creation stand out from the competition is the fact that it`s really well written and completely lacking in the pompousness that often plagues the genre. The book has some cracking humour in it, great subplots, and some lovely touches, such as the observations about the weird lesbian golfing world and its peculiar characters. Don`t get me wrong, `Damn Straight` is not high art, it`s pretty pulpy, but it`s very good pulp!

Byrd is flawed and believable, she`s also smart and brave. It`s the realism of the character that makes the violence, and the ultimate denouement, in the book so shocking. Sure, there are minor irritations, the character has a faithful pet rabbit (I`m not making this up) to whom too many paragraphs are devoted, but the book as a whole is completely gripping and highly recommended. Even if it does have all that stuff about golf in it…

Damn Straight (A Lillian Byrd Crime Story), by Elizabeth Sims

Published by: Alyson Press
ISBN: 1555837867

Get `Damn Straight,` the cracking lesbian detective novel by Elizabeth Sims