Three-and-a-half stars, and a recommendation. Read it and see what you think. I thought I wasn't going to like the judgy, opinionated, and somewhat hypocritical title character, but she won me over. Glory Be is a very promising first installment of a new mystery series, and I'll be back for more.

The characters are flawed, but fun to hang out with. Their efforts and their errors are mostly believable. Our smart sleuth is a Louisiana church lady complete with the wardrobe of Sunday hats, who makes her money as a bookie after Mass. Her daughter brings big city barrister brains and acts as a critical foil for Glory's shenanigans, but miss Big City can get into her own messes. It's a nice balance and a sweet relationship between the generations.

The ending felt a little rushed and a bit of a stretch, and the prose was kinda prosaic, so this isn't a tour de force, but every now and then I felt like I was inside the head of a real person, with a personality that was recognizable in every thought and plan, and that is an achievement that makes Arceneaux a writer worth watching.

The audio edition is read by Bahni Turpin, always a favorite narrator.