Glory daze

Edgar winner Arceneaux's charming sequel to Glory Be finds Louisiana bookie Glory Broussard reluctantly tracking down the killer of her ex-husband, Sterling. Glory--a self-described "Black woman who has done some living"--is sitting at her usual table in CC's Coffee House when she's approached by Valerie Broussard, the woman she blames for breaking up her marriage. Sterling has gone missing, according to Valerie, who begs for Glory's help in finding him. Despite her misgivings, Glory pays a visit to Sterling's rental property, where she finds him dead on the floor with a knife in his chest. Though she's perfectly content to let the police handle the case, her adult daughter, Delphine, insists Glory investigate, so she heads off to gather clues at the local casino and a horse racing stable. Along the way, Glory juggles her detective work with her duties as organizer of the Red Hat Society's highly competitive Mardi Gras festivities and her suspicion that Delphine is keeping secrets from her. Arceneaux continues to shrewdly subvert cozy mystery tropes, placing her spirited heroine in a world with real stakes and genuine adversity, and she throws a few clever curveballs into the central whodunit plot. This series deserves a long life. Agent: Alice Speilburg, Speilburg Literary. (Mar.)

Glory Broussard is back in Arceneaux's second Louisiana-set semi-cozy mystery (following Glory Be). Mardi Gras is near, and Glory has been tapped to organize this year's gala festivities. When her ex-husband, Sterling, goes missing and Glory finds him dead, she reluctantly agrees to help her daughter Delphine and Sterling's new wife, Valerie, solve his murder. They find conflicting information while investigating Sterling's new job at the local casino and racetrack. Had he really changed his ways or was the troubled man still engaged in illegal activities? Glory balances her detective work, to solve Sterling's murder, with her motherly prying into Delphine's secrets. She remains determined to solve the case and make the Mardi Gras gala a success. VERDICT In book two of this entertaining series, the characters continue to develop in realistic and meaningful ways, while aging, friendship, and familial expectations are explored. Recommended for readers who enjoyed The Townsend Family Recipe for Disaster by Shauna Robinson, It's Elementary by Elise Bryant, or Murder Is a Piece of Cake by Valerie Burns.--Linsey Milillo