Danielle Arceneaux

Thanks to Book Club Cookbook & Pegasus Crime for an advance reader's copy. All comments and opinions are my own.

I couldn’t resist this gorgeous book cover teamed with the title, plus it’s a mystery! This debut went beyond my expectations. In addition to being an entertaining murder mystery set in Lafayette, Louisiana, the novel explored racism, society’s attitude toward mid-life women, faith, and economic inequality. Heavy subjects respectfully handled with humor and wit.

The story begins with Glory learning that her best friend – a nun beloved by the community – has been found dead. Although the police say it’s a suicide Glory suspects Amity’s cause of death is a cover-up. So she (along with her reluctant daughter Delphine) become amateur sleuths to obtain justice for Amity, and in the process discover layers of fraud, lies, and crime in their community.

While the well-written novel contains humor it is also a realistic portrayal of a Black woman of a certain age who grew up in the segregated south. But what kicks this novel up a couple of notches from the usual cozy, is that Glory is not typical in her attitude, behavior, or appearance. She’s a flawed, church going part-time bookie who works out of a coffee shop. She is brashly opinionated, but also loyal and warmhearted. And Delphine says she has a hoarding problem.

The book’s title is a play on words – it’s the character Glory’s name (Glory Broussard), the name of a Catholic prayer, plus a phrase summing up feelings and intentions.

I enjoyed the plot twists that kept me guessing as well as the mother-daughter relationship. I appreciated how the author incorporated the local culture into this engaging murder mystery while avoiding clichés. Looking forward to reading the next in the series.… (more)

Glory Broussard is an older Black woman who grew up during segregation in Lafayette. Louisiana. She spends her Sunday mornings in church and the afternoons in the local coffee shop as a small time bookie. When her best friend, an activist nun, is found dead of an apparent suicide and the police quickly close the case, Glory refuses to accept that her friend would take her own life so she sets out, with the aid of her daughter, Daphne, to find out what really happened.

Glory Be is the first in a new cozy mystery series by Danielle Arceneaux and I have to say I loved every minute of it. The story is full of interesting descriptions of the area as well as looking at how Black people are most often the group most impacted by environmentally hazardous projects. There are plenty of twists and turns to keep the story moving and the reader guessing and, despite the serious nature of some of the issues explored, there’s a nice touch of humour running throughput. But the best thing about the story is Glory B, herself, a complete force of nature, brash and outspoken but also loyal, brave, and good-hearted, especially when it comes to friends and her daughter.

I listened to the audio version of the novel narrated by Bahni Turpin who does an excellent job bringing the story and its characters to life. A terrific start to this new series and I will definitely be watching out for future additions.

Thanks to Netgalley and Spotify Audiobooks for this book in exchange for an honest review… (more)