Giulia Bravely Tackles a Missing Person Case
Among the more unusual protagonists I read about is Giulia Driscoll, the former nun turned PI. The creation of Alice Loweecey, herself a former nun, this series keeps me laughing as I see what Giulia has gotten herself into. That stayed true for Nun But the Brave.
This case kicks off when Giulia is hired by a young woman to find her missing twin sister. Joanne has been missing for a couple of months. The police are sure that she is dead, but her sister refuses to give up hope. Giulia starts by talking to Joanne’s friends and co-workers, and she find that Joanne had been acting differently the last few months before she vanished. The trail leads Giulia to several internet dating sites, but where will the trail end?
Yes, this is a comedic mystery despite the very serious subject matter at hand. And no, the humor doesn’t come from Giulia fumbling around as she solves the case. It quite often comes from the banter between Giulia, her husband, and the employees of her PI firm. There are also Giulia’s observations as she interviews suspects. I laughed and smiled my way through the book, enjoying every page.
I will say that some of the things Giulia finds as she investigates push this one out of the cozy category, at least for me. We’re talking about some of the messages she gets on the dating sites, for example. Most of this is crude humor and is played for laughs and handled as delicately as possible, so it’s a minor issue overall.
Giulia does make a couple of leaps in this case by following her gut. This might normally bother me, but they were leaps I was already making since I had the advantage of knowing I was reading a book. It actually felt nice for a character to be with me, even if I question whether someone in the real world would have made those connections.
The other reason I’m willing to let this slide is because the plot does hold up. Giulia may move on instinct at times, but she finds evidence that backs her up before the story ends. The climax is suspenseful, and all the loose ends are wrapped up before we put the book down.
And the characters are great. While they make me laugh, there are depths to them that make me care about them and the outcome of the story.
Nun But the Brave was fun from start to finish. If you are looking for a light mystery, I highly recommend you pick it up.
Be sure to book more cases with Giulia Falcone-Driscoll. (Link includes all books with her as the main character from both series.)
This one is on my TBR and I can never resist a missing persons case. This looks like a great series.
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