Glory's Last Victim

Sharyn Howard Mystery #8

by Joyce Lavene, Jim Lavene

S-gi-na. That's what the Cherokee call the evil spirit that dwells within an ancient knife used to murder a young woman in a small college town outside Diamond Springs, North Carolina. With her Aunt Selma's new beau, Sam Two Rivers, arrested for the crime and all evidence pointing heavily toward him, newly re-elected Sheriff Sharyn Howard finds herself unwillingly, yet obligingly, drawn into the crime, which is outside her jurisdiction. Determined to help her friend and aunt, Sharyn attempts the impossible. She's already up to her ears in a series of house robberies and short a deputy who was downed by a rabid raccoon. But by working outside her county with a greasy police chief and his belligerent assistant, she willend a mystery involving a string of unsolved murders that date back to the Civil War.

Genres: Mystery

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

aka Elyssa Henry and Joye Ames, J.J. Cook, and Ellie Grant

Joyce Lavene and Jim Lavene are a wife and husband team who have written and published more than 70 books since 1999. They live in North Carolina with their family and enjoy cooking, photography and ghost hunting.

Reviews

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, quick read, if a bit predictable. I enjoyed it.

[JoAnn Ainsworth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting plot, but large swaths of the action were handled via dialog.

[Bonnie Drummond · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Characters in this book and how Joyce and Jim Lavene wove the Civil War into the plot was really good. Glory's Last Victim book 8 in A Sharyn Howard Mystery by: Joyce and Jim Lavene was gripping in a way that you wanted to go to Diamond Springs, North Carolina and check out what was happening in this town. 5 stars plus 100 more for a series that's get you to want to move there.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I really like this mystery series a lot, I found it a little difficult to navigate this story. I had read book #1 and have missed the ones in between and I think that the author maybe should have given a few more clues to the main points of what had occurred. With that being said, this is a great mystery! I didn't guess who the murderer was until the last chapter, just before Sheriff Sharon Howard discovered it herself.

On the nearby campus of Piper College a murder had occurred every 5 years between 1865 and 1890, always on January 19th. 5 years ago a girl was murdered on this date and now it has happened again. The same Cherokee knife was used in both murders and Sharon suspects that it had been used in all of them. Her Aunt Selma is dating a man from the Cherokee Nation named Sam Two Rivers and he is accused of the murders. As Sharon scrambles to find the real killer, her department is also besieged with the elusive robbers named The Silver Dollar Gang. It's a bizarre mystery.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series just keeps getting better and better. It is best to read in order as the characters build through the series. One character in particular, Jack Winter, is one scary dude, and I for one will be happy when Sharyn, the protagonist, takes him down. The characters in this series are people you get to know and like (except for Jack Winter and a few others). Unfortunately this series must not be read by many because finding the books is hard. This is book 8 of the series and I want to thank Big Horn County Library in Basin WY for loaning me the book through interlibrary loan. I truly appreciate this service and want to acknowledge the U.S. library systems for continuing to offer this service free to readers.

[Dharia Scarab · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since I don't normally write reviews unless I have something specific to say, here's the break down of how I rate my books...

1 star... This book was bad, so bad I may have given up and skipped to the end. I will avoid this author like the plague in the future.

2 stars... This book was not very good, and I won't be reading any more from the author.

3 stars... This book was ok, but I won't go out of my way to read more, But if I find another book by the author for under a dollar I'd pick it up.

4 stars... I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be on the look out to pick up more from the series/author.

5 stars... I loved this book! It had earned a permanent home in my collection and I'll be picking up the rest of the series and other books from the author ASAP.