Review: For Glory by Elisabeth Lee
Reviewed by Kelly M.
Lyle Hudson, a tough talking woman who makes her living playing cards, returns to her hometown of Lawrence, Kansas after hearing of her mother’s unexpected death. While looking through her mother’s diary, Lyle begins to uncover a life that her mother never shared with her, prompting her to think that her mother may have been murdered. Crank phone calls, the ace of spades containing the words “pay up”, and robberies at her mother’s bridal shop have danger following Lyle’s every step.
For Glory can be classified as a mystery, it is more of a comedy. The relationships Lyle has with her aunts, her mother’s dog Glory, and MacDonald, the handsome detective, keep Lyle, and the reader, distracted from the mysterious events that follow her mother’s death. Lyle’s humorous thoughts and the conversations she has with her aunts, specifically the twin aunts who own a candy business that carries an erotic line of candy, out shadow the scenes where Lyle finds herself confronted by attackers and “pay up” notes.
Elisabeth Lee writes some scenes with a lack of urgency, which may be because the reader sees the story through Lyle’s eyes. Lyle often takes on the persona of a mix between Jackie Chan and Clint Eastwood, taking down men twice her size and walking away with a tough guy bravado, showing no fear. There is a lack of “on the edge of your seat” feeling that most mysteries have, but the humorous exchanges Lyle has with her aunts and the love affair she has with MacDonald are enough to keep the reader entertained.
As a twenty-five year old, I’m not Lee’s target audience; however, I think all of my aunts would enjoy the spunky, sexy, and strong attitude of the 50-something Lyle. For Glory is easy to read and entertaining. The ending may even cause you to go out and buy the sequel, Flashes of Glory, to follow Lyle’s adventures at a high stakes gambling tournament in Tahoe.
Category: Literature & Fiction, Mystery & Thrillers
If it is entertaining, that’s enough for me. Sometimes the best mysteries are comedies instead of mysteries. I really like when the main character is older. So many times read a story where the main character is young and describes someone as elderly and later in the book I find out that they are younger than me. I do like that term elderly!
Carol Wong