Here are 86 books that Glory Be fans have personally recommended if you like
Glory Be.
Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.
My first book love was Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. The game between author and reader that centers a whodunit has always delighted me. The breadcrumb trail of clues, the misdirection, the inevitable I should have seen it! are my jam. Now an author of whodunits—I have one series published and a second on the way, along with several short stories – I read mysteries with greater scrutiny—in admiration and with a selfish desire to learn from other authors’ envious talents. Each of the books on my list excited me for their excellent storytelling. In the end, I found them just plain entertaining. I hope you do too!
As much as I love this book’s hero, former television commercial star Dayna Anderson, her tight circle of got-your-back friends is what made this mystery really shine.
To say the cast has big personalities is like calling Hollywood’s Dolby Theater a quaint venue. I laughed out loud throughout and wished I could ride along with these ladies (there are some guys involved, a love interest in particular) as they doggedly unravel the deftly plotted mystery.
I am grateful to Garrett that there is a sequel to this first in the series, Hollywood Ending.
Dayna Anderson doesn t set out to solve a murder. All the semi-famous, mega-broke black actress wants is to help her parents keep their house. After witnessing a deadly hit-and-run, she figures pursuing the fifteen-grand reward isn t the craziest thing a Hollywood actress has done for some cash. But what starts as simply trying to remember a speeding car soon blossoms into a full-on investigation. As Dayna digs deeper into the victim s life, she wants more than just reward money. She s determined to find the poor woman's killer too. When she connects the accident to a notorious…
My first book love was Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. The game between author and reader that centers a whodunit has always delighted me. The breadcrumb trail of clues, the misdirection, the inevitable I should have seen it! are my jam. Now an author of whodunits—I have one series published and a second on the way, along with several short stories – I read mysteries with greater scrutiny—in admiration and with a selfish desire to learn from other authors’ envious talents. Each of the books on my list excited me for their excellent storytelling. In the end, I found them just plain entertaining. I hope you do too!
A flat-out clinic on how to infuse humor in mystery! Author Catriona McPherson is hilarious, both in person and on the page.
I am continually amazed by her ability to create fully realized characters, like series star Lexy Campbell, who read so true on the page while being laugh-out-loud funny. Oh! And I also greatly admire the plotting of each terrific installment in this long-running Last Ditch Mystery series.
To me, the discovery of a top-notch series is a gift that keeps on giving. I hope this one keeps it up for a long time.
Despite efforts to create a safe environment to see out the pandemic, the residents of the Last Ditch Motel face more dangers than they imagined possible in this hilarious yet claustrophobic mystery.
March 2020 and Operation Cocker is a go! The owners of the Last Ditch Motel, with a little help from their friend Lexy Campbell, are preparing to support one another through the oncoming lockdown, offering the motel's spare rooms to a select few from the local area in need of sanctuary.
While the newbies are settling in, an ambiguous banner appears demanding one of them return home. But…
I am a long-time lover of mysteries. Whether it be books, TV, or movies, I love when there is an unknown element to puzzle out. I remember staying up long past my bedtime as a child, reading because I just had to know what happened. I write across a number of genres for different age groups, but at the heart of every story I take on is a mystery that I want to figure out for myself. I love it when readers and audiences come along for the ride, joining me for the plot twists and turns.
I started this book for the unlikely main character–Sister Holiday, a chain-smoking, tattooed, queer nun–but it was the mystery that kept me reading. I always love it when a writer can make me feel like I am the one on the line, like I am fighting for my life or to prove my innocence. This book did just that.
I found I was holding myself tightly as Sister Holiday investigated but just kept finding more evidence against herself. The snippets of her past life made me feel for her more and more, taking the character from an unlikely hero to someone I cared deeply about. I can’t wait to get my hands on the second in the series.
Sister Holiday, a chain-smoking, heavily tattooed, queer nun, puts her amateur sleuthing skills to the test in this "unique and confident" debut crime novel (Gillian Flynn).
When Saint Sebastian's School becomes the target of a shocking arson spree, the Sisters of the Sublime Blood and their surrounding New Orleans community are thrust into chaos.
Patience is a virtue, but punk rocker turned nun Sister Holiday isn't satisfied to just wait around for officials to return her home and sanctuary to its former peace, instead deciding to unveil the mysterious attacker herself. Her investigation leads her down a twisty path of…
My first book love was Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. The game between author and reader that centers a whodunit has always delighted me. The breadcrumb trail of clues, the misdirection, the inevitable I should have seen it! are my jam. Now an author of whodunits—I have one series published and a second on the way, along with several short stories – I read mysteries with greater scrutiny—in admiration and with a selfish desire to learn from other authors’ envious talents. Each of the books on my list excited me for their excellent storytelling. In the end, I found them just plain entertaining. I hope you do too!
I love a story that fills a space on the shelf that no one else has thought to create. Props to Lina Chern for giving this reader Katie True.
From the moment I met Katie, working at a decidedly unglamorous suburban mall shop while wondering why her life is...well, her life (and looking to Tarot cards among other places for answers), I knew this wasn’t another off-the-shelf mystery protagonist.
This book not only serves up a clever plot with offbeat supporting players in a unique yet oh-so-familiar setting; it reveals an everyday struggling young woman as a cool and quirky individual who is just trying to make her life into something meaningful.
I should mention, along the way, she solves a murder, proving her street smarts aren’t to be underestimated.
A cynical tarot card reader seeks to uncover the truth about her friend’s mysterious death in this delightfully clever whodunit, “a delicious blend of suspense and madcap humor” (Library Journal, starred review).
For Katie True, a keen gut and quick wit are just tools of the trade. After a failed attempt at adulting in Chicago, she’s back in the suburbs living a bit too close to her overbearing parents, jumping from one dead-end job to the next, and flipping through her tarot deck for guidance. Then along comes Marley.
Mysterious, worldly, and comfortable in her own skin, Marley takes a…
I love to see complicated characters rising to the occasion. People in real life generally have a lot going on just handling the day-to-day, and they aren’t waiting around for adventure, romance, or mystery to find them. It feels very human to me to see characters struggling with more mundane things like social situations, worrying about their appearance, or holding down a job, rather than only focusing on the plot arc, and that’s the type of character I also focus on as a writer. My latest protagonist, Simon, definitely has enough problems without a missing-person case to solve, so he may be what got me thinking of this topic.
Something that really drew me into this book is how slippery the sense of danger is: Is journalist Scott McGrath only risking further legal trouble with Stanislas Cordova if he continues to research the suicide of the mysterious director’s daughter, or is he up against something far more evil?
After his last encounter with Cordova destroyed his career, reputation, and marriage, Scott McGrath should be worrying about other things… but he can’t help himself. I was also intrigued by his shifting motivations: Is he driven by a need to know the truth, seeking revenge, fascinated by the story, or trying to protect himself and his loved ones?
Many scenes felt like optical illusions where I could see entirely different truths depending on what perspective I looked at them from.
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR • Cosmopolitan • Kirkus Reviews • BookPage
A page-turning thriller for readers of Stephen King, Gillian Flynn, and Stieg Larsson, Night Film tells the haunting story of a journalist who becomes obsessed with the mysterious death of a troubled prodigy—the daughter of an iconic, reclusive filmmaker.
On a damp October night, beautiful young Ashley Cordova is found dead in an abandoned warehouse in lower Manhattan. Though her death is ruled a suicide, veteran investigative journalist Scott McGrath suspects otherwise. As he probes the strange circumstances…
I wear so many hats that if I murdered you, you wouldn’t know which one of me struck. I am a crime fiction writer, a producer, a public speaker, and an entrepreneur. I have to admit I am an accidental writer who wanted to leave a legacy behind and, ergo, wrote a book in 2010. But I found writing crime fiction so addictive I became a serial killer…err…writer. In my spare time, I read—spoiler alert!—crime fiction and binge-watch crime shows. I am an avid golfer, I love music and traveling, and I find something in the sound of water that encourages me to write and murder a few more people (fictionally, of course).
Once in a while, every author reads a book they wish they had written. This book is the one for me.
Jannie, a once-bestselling-now-struggling crime writer, unable to lend authenticity to her plots and voice, decides to carry out a multi-million-dollar heist to give a fact-based and realistic account. However, to accomplish her plan, she teams up with her partner to recruit men from the wrong side of town. Together the team members scout targets and rehearse the various escape routes. Jannie’s plan is to call off the make-believe caper a day before the heist. But…the hustlers she’s recruited won’t take orders from her any longer, not when over a million dollars are within touching distance.
In the words of Sanders himself: “Crime never felt so good!”
I grew up on the ocean, surrounded by stories of pirates and mystery. Back then, I became enthralled with old detective series like Nancy Drew. Today, I am hooked on Agatha Christie. Though I primarily read and write nonfiction, they retain that mysterious element that has always intrigued me. In my teaching, writing, and research, I work with genealogy and true crime. I’m also obsessed with true crime books and podcasts. I hope you enjoy the list I have picked for you!
I have long enjoyed Gregg Olsen's books for their empathetic and well-researched narratives. In this book, he teams up with journalist Rebecca Morris to recount the details surrounding Susan Cox Powell's disappearance.
The authors detail the search for the young mother and the grisly aftermath that ensues over the years following her disappearance, culminating in the deaths of her two young children and her husband. This story is full of unexpected twists and heartbreaking accounts that I still remember long after reading the final page.
The tragic story of Susan Powell and her murdered boys, Charlie and Braden, is the only case that rivals the John Benet Ramsey saga in the annals of true crime. When a pretty, blonde Utah mother went missing in December of 2009 the media was swept up in the story. Susan's husband, Josh, said he had no idea what happened to his young wife, and that he and the boys had been camping. Over the next three years bombshell by bombshell, the story would reveal more shocking secrets, Josh's father, Steve, who was sexually obsessed with Susan, would ultimately be…
Throughout my teenage and early adult years, I experienced episodes of mental illness. Thankfully, it seems to be behind me, but it's not something I’ll ever forget, and I find myself deeply intrigued by the manifestations of those darker aspects in others. Some people hurt themselves and some hurt others, the common thread is the presence of pain and suffering. As heartrending as this reality is, it holds a certain fascination for me, both in real life and in literature. That’s why I write about it; that’s why I read about it.
I loved this book. The concept is brilliant, and as a writer, I’m a little envious that I didn’t come up with it myself. Again, it’s a twisted mind that makes this story.
Laura is someone you hate more with every word that you read, but you can’t stop reading. We get a backstory as to why she is how she is, but regardless, witnessing how she acts as a result, and to people at their most desperate, is very dark.
She's a friendly voice on the phone. But can you trust her?
The people who call End of the Line need hope. They need reassurance that life is worth living. But some are unlucky enough to get through to Laura. Laura doesn't want them to hope. She wants them to die.
Laura hasn't had it easy: she's survived sickness and a difficult marriage only to find herself heading for forty, unsettled and angry. She doesn't love talking to people worse off than she is. She craves it.
I’ve been obsessed with murder mysteries and psychological thrillers for as long as I can remember. My father’s bookshelves were full of anthologies on serial killers, which piqued my curiosity at a very early age (probably too early, but we’re not here to judge my dad’s parenting skills, okay?). As I familiarized myself with the likes of Ed Gein, Jeffrey Dahmer, Charles Manson, and John Wayne Gacy, I became enthralled by the psychology behind what makes people commit heinous acts. Now as an author myself, these same stories fuel my inspiration and keep me motivated to write books that further explore the darker side of human nature.
This book was full of nail-biting suspense that left me thirsting for more every time I was forced to put it down. And that ending—holy cow! I was not expecting such a shocking twist after what already turned out to be a thrilling showdown between the main character and the villain.
I could easily see this becoming a hit horror/thriller movie; it was just that captivating. I’ve already added All The Lies by this same author to my reading list so I can continue devouring her work!
Joanne knows how lucky she is, Richard is a wonderful husband, Evie is the most gorgeous baby girl, they live in a beautiful house, life couldn't be better. But then Richard's twenty-year-old daughter Chloe turns up. Chloe hasn't spoken to her father since the day he married Joanne two years ago. But with the arrival of her baby sister Evie, Chloe wants to make peace. Richard is delighted, and since Joanne is struggling with the new baby, he suggests Chloe could move in and help. It sounds like the perfect solution, even if Chloe doesn't seem to like Joanne very…
When I started writing mysteries, beginning with St. Martin’s Malice Award-winning Southern Fried,I wanted to get the medical, investigative, and courtroom details right. What better resource than good first-hand accounts from professionals who do those things every day? I must admit that, over several decades now, I’ve fallen down the rabbit hole. Real life is full of stories that, if told as fiction, would leave readers rolling their eyes in disbelief. The gruesome and cruel don’t interest me. I’m drawn to the storytellers who can capture the worst moments and turn them into finely written, compelling, accurate stories, showing us the complexity of life.
This collection features a range of stories, a range of time and places, written by many of the best true-crime writers. Goodman, himself a master storyteller, has pulled together a wide sampling of all manner of crimes stories, all well-told. Goodman wisely included his own likely solution to one of my favorite unsolved crimes, the Liverpool case of Julia Wallace, which has fascinated novelists from Raymond Chandler to Dorothy L. Sayers and P.D. James.
More than 32 accounts of murder by crime historians and fiction writers as well as analyses of how criminals are brought to justice, of how others get away with it, a section on executions and executioners, the perils of eye-witness evidence and a discussion of what makes a good murder.
