Veiled Threat

By Alice Loweecey

It’s private investigator Giulia Falcone’s second Christmas since leaving the convent. She’s happy to be spending it with Frank Driscoll, even if his switching from boss to boyfriend and back again is giving her whiplash. But Giulia’s holiday is darkened with disturbing news from her friends Anya and Laurel—their adopted baby girl has been kidnapped. When she learns that two kidnappings in nearby communities, both involving same-sex couples, ended with devastating fatalities, Giulia is more determined than ever to return the infant girl to her mothers. With Frank reluctantly backing her and the understaffed police offering little assistance, Giulia goes undercover to snare the kidnappers before they can do further harm.

Praise:

"The blossoming romance between Frank and the innocent Giulia—as well as the ongoing process of Giulia finding her way in the world after living years in the convent (she uses Cosmopolitan to learn about men)—provides character-based appeal for this fast-paced, satisfying mystery."—Booklist 

"Absorbing. Loweecey nicely balances humor built around Giulia's re-entry into the world and her attraction to her boss with her suspenseful efforts to save Laurel and Anya's baby."—Publishers Weekly

"A former nun herself, Loweecey infuses her complex heroine with all the knowledge and courage it takes to switch from the convent to crime fighting and pairs a solid mystery with a budding romance." —Kirkus Reviews

• Language: English
• Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide
• Release date: Feb 8, 2013
• ISBN: 9780738735771

Alice Loweecey

Baker of brownies and tormenter of characters, Alice Loweecey celebrates the day she jumped the wall with as much enthusiasm as her birthday. She grew up watching Hammer horror films and Scooby-Doo mysteries, which explains a whole lot. When she's not writing humorous mysteries or nightmare-inducing horror fiction, she can be found growing vegetables in her garden and water lilies in her koi pond.

Reviews for Veiled Threat

[bookdivasreads · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Giulia Falcone is an ex-nun, ex-schoolteacher, ex-barista and novice private investigator at Driscoll Investigations. Estranged from her family after leaving the convent, she's built a life for herself and is surrounded by friends. It is perhaps for this reason that she's willing to do almost anything for her friends. A few days before Christmas, she's contacted by Laurel Drury. Laurel is the owner of a soup kitchen in the local theater district and Giulia volunteers there several days a week. Laurel wants to hire Driscoll Investigations to aid in the search for her kidnapped baby. Laurel, and her partner Anya, had recently adopted an infant girl, Katie. They return home from an evening out to find the babysitter tied up and their daughter gone. They contact the police but are blown off. The next day they receive a ransom demand. Laurel, Anya and Giulia are concerned because similar kidnappings have not ended well. Giulia is able to talk Frank into not only taking the case but presenting their participation in the active police investigation to Captain James Reilly. Their request is initially met with resistance, but Giulia is able to successfully plead the case for her involvement. As the clock winds down on the kidnapper's deadline, Giulia realizes that she may have to do something drastic. Her only fear is that she may not be able to find Katie, or worse save Katie before it's too late.I found Veiled Threat to be a quick read. At times the plot was predictable, but Ms. Loweecey's writing style made the action so interesting that I didn't mind the predictability factor. Giulia is obviously the main character so much of the story focuses on her interaction with his boss/boyfriend Frank Driscoll, her co-worker Sidney, and her friends, Laurel, Anya and Mingmei. The action picks up a bit when Giulia goes undercover at the resort. There's drama found in Giulia's thoughts of family and the holidays, mystery and suspense with the kidnapping and investigation, and even romance between Frank and Giulia. My only disappointment with the story was with Frank Driscoll. I thought he was put too far into the background with regards to the investigation especially since he is the head of the investigative company. If you enjoy clean, mystery-suspense reads, then you'll want to grab a copy of Veiled Threat for a quick and enjoyable weekend read.