"Glory Be" introduces us to our new favorite amateur sleuth just in time for cozy mystery season

Fall is here and there is a bit of a nip in the air (on the East Coast of the US at least) and that means only one thing.

It's officially COZY MYSTERY season.

Let's face it, there is nothing more autumnal than curling up with a good mystery and a blanket and tea on a chilly autumn afternoon.

Fortunately for mystery fans, they have lots to choose from this fall —- including a debut novel from author Danielle Arceneaux set deep in the Louisiana bayou.

"Glory Be" introduces readers to numbers runner and amateur sleuth Glory Broussard, who has lived in Lafayette, LA her entire life.

Glory seemingly knows everything (and everyone) in and around Lafayette -- and that includes secrets that many wish had been long forgotten.

One day, while Glory is chatting with the local sheriff at her favorite coffee shop, she overhears him getting a call to report to the home of local nun Sister Amity after getting a report of a death that is a possible suicide.

Glory immediately jumps into action and insists on going along on the call. Sister Amity, you see, is Glory's best friend since childhood and she knows her friend would never end her own life.

But as Glory gets pulled into the shadowy world her outwardly pious friend ran in, she finds herself trying to solve the mystery while also worrying about her daughter Delphine -- a high powered NYC lawyer who uses the case to return home while navigating a messy divorce, and the longtime police officer Beau Landry, who tries to send both Glory and Delphine on their way for their own good.
 

Glory knows as well as anyone that true justice is rare in Louisiana-- but does her best to try to get it for her friend, while also protecting her own hearth and home.

We received review copies of Glory Be from the good people at Pegasus Crime. You can purchase your own copy here.

Lakshmi: This was a nice book to kick off cozy mystery season!!

Asha: It was! Glory is such a fun protagonist

Lakshmi: We should say that in addition to being a woman of a certain age who is also a part-time bookie, Glory is also a hoarder with shaky finances – so she has a lot going on that leads people who care about her (like her daughter and Landry) to worry a lot and for people who don't wish her well (aka the people who don't want the crime solved) to wonder how they can take advantage. 

Asha: And she has a contentious relationship with her sister! So her only family is really her daughter.

Lakshmi; There are a lot of big personalities in this book. Glory’s daughter Delphine is a fancy lawyer who doesn't want to talk about her divorce.

Since everyone knows each other, she's also known Officer Landry her whole life—which is another (quite fun) complication.

Asha: Additionally, Glory didn’t really seem to like her daughter’s husband.

Lakshmi: And of course NO ONE TALKS ABOUT ANY OF IT. 

Asha: There’s no need to talk about it, everyone knows everything! It’s a small town!

Lakshmi; I do also want to note that this book is really snappy and funny. Noah Singleton is the owner of her favorite coffee shop and he's rebranding to appeal to different audiences.

That doesn't go over well with Glory.

“You and your felons. I swear, Noah Singleton, I will never get how your brain operates. You’re one of the few black business owners in all of Lafayette, and you go and hire a jailbird. Makes no sense, if you ask me.”

“Ain’t no one asking you,” he said, wiping her table with a damp cloth.

“I know you have a soft spot for these hard cases, especially after everything with your daughter.” She sighed. “But you ought to have more sense than to have some jailbird behind your cash register. You’re letting a fox run wild in the henhouse.”

“I’ve had no problems with the man—whose name is Gus, by the way,” he said. “And besides, everyone deserves a second chance. Even you.”

“Me? I have no idea what you’re referring to. I am a proper Catholic woman in good standing at St. Agnes of Lafayette, located at the corner of love and mercy. And the Vatican, for that matter.”

Asha: He’s rebranding AND hiring recently-released felons.

Lakshmi:Yes. Both are very trendy right now, hahaha.

Asha: Plus,  being a bookie isn’t exactly legal either….So Noah could argue that Glory is being a little hypocritical.

Lakshmi: That’s true. Unlike her daughter, Glory very much lives on the edges But also, this is Louisiana and Glory has seen things

so the history of the area is never far behind:

St. Martin de Porres wasn’t as grand as St. Agnes, Glory’s church in neighboring Lafayette. It was built in 1942 as the black church, back when the South was divided into two: black and white. Glory didn’t truly understand what this meant in real terms until she was seven years old, when a brick shattered her church’s simple glass window and a fire devoured the rest of it. For six months, while the church was rebuilt, the congregation was permitted to attend

the white church a few blocks away. Her tiny eyes had widened to take in the glittering chandelier dangling from the church’s vestibule, and her white patent-leather church shoes looked dingy on the crimson carpet nestled between the wooden pews. Her own church

had simple metal chairs, requiring them to kneel on the tiled floor instead of padded kneelers. After months of Sundays in the white church, little Glory was sure God loved the people in that church more. She understood at last what the adults in the room already knew—that black was just another word for inferior.

That's just so sad. Plus, as we meet the different nuns (and learn more about the late Sister Amity's own story)... the factors that led so many to take orders are a little stressful!

Asha: They are!

Lakshmi:  But what struck you about the book?

Asha: in true cozy mystery fashion, no one believes Glory when she says that Amity didn’t die by suicide. 

Lakshmi: Everyone believes this even though Glory points out that Amity had plans! For the school, for her work, etc. She was looking ahead!

Asha: Exactly, So Glory and her reluctant daughter go investigating on their own. And get themselves into precarious situations.Which are both nerve wracking and funny.

Lakshmi: Amity does have a history of substance abuse, but Glory thought she had things under control. No one in this book is who they appear to be and that was very interesting to me. 

No one in the church came off as particularly exemplary. Also, scenes like this were so vindictive. This is no way to lay out a nun.

Glory gritted her teeth as she saw the state of her best friend. Sister Amity was dressed in a beige silk nightgown and tucked into a casket lined with baby-blue satin. On one side, a thin strap had shaken loose, exposing her bare shoulder. Delicate lace framed her décolleté, with the garment skimming her knees. How dare they do this. How dare they leave her so exposed. She tried to cast her anger aside, to not let it spoil this final moment with her beloved friend.

Glory shook her head and scanned the room, wondering if there was any way she could shield Amity from the masses in that condition. As or anyone why didn't the other sisters in the order let Amity have her dignity.

Asha: Well, the tradition is to lay out people in their nightclothes (there was another quote about that) Which I actually thought was interesting! But Glory doesn’t really like the tradition, especially when it comes to Amity. Because as you said: she’s a nun.

Lakshmi: Let's talk about Father Romero! He operates like an elected official almost -- he is the head of Amity's church and gets a LOT of deference but is also vaguely slimy. For example, he gets lots of grants. But no one knows what he does with that money though!

Asha: He was fascinating! 

Lakshmi: And of course how he ties into all of the troubling things that are happening is something the reader, the police, and Glory all continually wonder! (We are carefully avoiding spoilers here!)

So on another note,  I liked the paragraph where we first meet Glory's daughter Delphine: 

Her clothes, on the surface, were plain—black trousers and a white blouse—but she looked more elegant than anyone there. Even in the most minimal outfit, she looked expensive. And she

was. What the parishioners couldn’t articulate were that her pants were wool gabardine, her blouse made of silk charmeuse, the woven leather sandals an indulgence from Italy. Her lips were painted red,

and her curly black hair was tamed in a no-nonsense bun—each strand was on its best behavior, understanding that now was not

the time to act up. Tall and lithe, with what folks down here called that “good” hair and fair black skin, she looked more like her father than she did her mother.

Asha: It’s such a great description!

Lakshmi; What did you think of Landry?

Asha: Honestly, he didn’t really stick out to me! Maybe that’s because he didn’t have as big a personality as some of the other characters? He was less memorable.

Lakshmi: Yeah, he's just the straight man sensible detective character.

Asha: He is!

Lakshmi: The amateur sleuths clearly steal the show

Asha: His main distinguishing feature is the chemistry he has with Delphine (And his own failing marriage!)

Lakshmi; Yes, there are a lot of divorces and very detached ppl in this story.

Asha: Some of it is sort of the small town aspect

When you’re born and raised in once place, you can end up settling for something that isn’t ideal

In Landry’s case, he’s a salt-of-the-earth type married to a flashy wife.

Lakshmi; For sure. Did you have a final thought?

This is going to be a series! This is the first book of hopefully many!  Also, these characters would be great on television as well.

Asha: It would definitely be great on TV! In the meantime, I’m looking forward to more Glory Broussard!