Lillian Byrd Crime

Lillian Byrd is a small-time reporter with a flair for making big-time mistakes-like getting fired for fending off the boss's son with an X-Acto knife and breaking up with her girlfriend for no good reason-so her investigation into the disappearances of women in the Detroit area might not be the best idea. But when one of the missing women turns up dead and Lillian recognizes the bizarrely mutilated corpse, she's in too deep to get out. Of course, it doesn't help that she's still fighting off the boss's son and ducking the aggressively amorous overtures of the roughest dyke in town. Now, after simultaneously blowing the case for the police and revealing herself to the off-kilter killers, she's completely on her own. Can she catch the murderers before they catch up with her?

Lillian Byrd's battered Chevrolet Caprice is convulsing through the last of its death throes; her pet rabbit, Todd, ails; and as usual she's single-and flat broke. For a few extra bucks she signs on to help an old friend, retired police detective Erma Porrocks, renovate her house, but of course nothing ever goes smoothly in the life of Lillian Byrd. The end of her first day on the job yields a partially demolished wall, a mysterious stash of cash, and a fresh corpse. And Lillian's attentions are diverted by the appearance of a drop-dead gorgeous neighbor. In trying to figure out the twisted facts, Lillian uncovers greed, deception, and love, not necessarily in that order!

For once, life is good for Lillian Byrd: She’s working as the media liaison for Detroit mayoral candidate Leon Sorrel, and getting paid for it, too! But she’s courting danger by conducting a torrid affair with the married campaign manager, Marie Chamberlain. After discovering Marie and her husband dead in a catastrophic double murder, Lillian lands in a soup of suspicion, and Sorrel’s in trouble too. Sorrel’s opponent, the incumbent mayor Andromeda Jacobs, isn’t above using dirty tricks to win, aided by a crooked cop and a venomous gossip columnist. When the lead detective on the murder investigation tightens the vise on Lillian, she has no choice but to square off against powerful enemies, seen and unseen, to clear herself and get Sorrel’s campaign over the finish line. Lillian’s old pal Flora Pomeroy uses her connections among the city’s A-listers to outmaneuver their enemies, while the dashing DPD Lieutenant of Internal Affairs, Anna Hughes, employs hardball strategies to advance the murder investigation. But when Mayor Jacobs surprises Lillian with a secret visit during which she reveals a catastrophic personal problem, the threads start to come together. And as Lillian and Anna grow closer, their challenges mount, and suddenly their lives hang in the balance. Can they confront the killer, solve the mayor’s dire trouble, and stop the chaos before the election?