A former nun is the sleuth at the center of this mystery. The book is set at a Michigan resort with an impressive lighthouse. Guilia sets up a sham "vacation" to look into a series of troublesome events that have been happening at the resort. She arrives to find everyone a-flutter about a family ghost haunting the inn. A slightly nutty psychic has been commissioned to hold seances. The whole set up reminded me of a Nancy Drew mystery, in which the sleuth is the only person willing to believe that the ghost isn't real, and that there has to be a worldly explanation for the mischief. And there is plenty of malicious mischief in this book, perpetuated by the "ghost." There's also some high-tension action when the bad guy tries to push Guilia from the top of the lighthouse (let's face it, as soon as we saw a really tall showpiece lighthouse, we knew this was coming). I found this to be a fairly average cozy mystery. It's fun, a quick read, and it passes the time. The characters were reasonable and unoffensive. ( )

This is the second book in the Driscoll Investigation Series. Guilia, Sydney, Zane and Jane staff the business, but her husband Frank, a police detective, helps out so much that he may as well still be on the payroll. It may seem unbelievable that an ex-nun runs a private investigation business, but it makes for some fun reading, especially when she is having second thoughts about lying and deceiving others while coming to terms with her own post-convent life.

Giulia Driscoll and her staff are skeptical about taking on the "case of the haunted lighthouse." She is used to doing background checks, finding embezzlers and trailing cheating spouses, not chasing down ghosts. "Mac" the owner of the B&B housed in the lighthouse, offers her a large sum of money to help out and Guilia really likes her, so she takes the case. She and Frank are given an open invitation to take up temporary residence at the Bed & Breakfast to determine whether there is a ghost or if the so called psychic that does seances weekly behind the eerie happenings. Giulia quickly enlists her husband Frank's help, using the guise of a much needed get-away for the two workaholics.

Once Giulia arrives, strange things do happen, but Giulia and Frank are absolutely convinced that logical, rational, and entirely human explanations exist for them. They have a list of suspects to investigate as more and more unexplained things occur. Second to Nun has a great mix of excitement and suspense, and once I started reading, I could not wait to get to the end to find out who "the ghost" really was. Several different suspects took center stage in my mind as I read, and I did not figure out the culprit until just before it was revealed in the story. Giulia's crew keeps me laughing and that never hurts when reading a fun cozy mystery like this one. A great book for cozy mystery lovers who also like a little humor in the story.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in return for an honest review. ( )

Giulia Driscoll, private investigator, is in her office one morning when a woman rushes in and demands that she go with her across the street to see a psychic. Acquiescing, she discovers that the psychic, Rowan, has decreed her the 'veiled woman' and that she needs to help MacAllister 'Mac' Stone, the woman who came to her office. Mac runs a B&B called Stone's Throw, which is a renovated lighthouse, and it seems she has a haunting - a resident ghost - and she needs Giulia to help her get rid of it. Showing Guilia pictures of strange goings-on, she convinces her to find out the truth of what is happening. Although she doesn't believe it's a ghost, she agrees to help, and she and her husband Frank, a homicide detective, go to Stone's Throw posing as guests until Giulia can figure out what - or who - is doing their best to see that the business fails.

When Giulia arrives - sans Frank, who has a last-minute case to wrap up before he can join her - she meets a colorful array of guests, all who have been there before and can't say enough good things. She attends an evening on the beach, with everyone making s'mores, but then sometime later there is a scream and it is discovered that someone has set that same area on fire. So Giulia decides that Mac's fears are real, insofar as someone is attempting to put her out of business, but still skeptical of that someone being a ghost.

Eventually the 'accidents' escalate, and between her and Frank investigating on the sly, Giulia has no dearth of suspects. Everyone at the B&B is on her list, along with Mac's nephew, Walter, who runs a boat rental on the beach, and Lucy, the housekeeper. In fact, the only one she's scratched off the list is the handyman who has to keep repairing the damage the 'ghost' is doing.

In between snippets of a little personal time for themselves, they know they're only pretending to be actual guests, and so to this end manage to surreptitiously question the others while maintaining a low profile that won't cause the others to question them to any great extent. Although what Giulia finds out is interesting, not a lot of it appears to be dangerous, which makes it more difficult for her.

Add to this the crazy as a loon local psychic, Solana, that Mac has hired to entertain her guests, and the psychic's husband, Cedar, and and Giulia has her hands full. Especially since the psychic is also referring to Giulia as the 'veiled woman' (a reference to Giulia's former days as a nun) which only serves to aggravate Giulia even more.

When there is an attempt on Mac's life, Giulia knows she must step up her game and step in quickly to find a potential killer still on the loose.

I really loved this book, and can't say enough good things about it. Giulia is an ex-nun-turned-investigator, and has seen it all. She's barely finishing a cheating husband case (and not very pleasant for her, but necessary just the same) when Mac rushes in demanding her help. So off she and Frank go to the B&B, doing their best to seem like a couple on a romantic getaway while trying to figure out what is going on and who is attempting to put Mac out of business.

But find out she does, and watching her put the pieces together is great fun. I love books that make me think, right along with the protagonist, and this book does exactly that. It's not an easy read, there is a slight otherworldly feel to it - due in part to the resident haunting - but Giulia gets the answers she's looking for, and therefore, so do we. When the end comes and the answers are revealed, it's almost sad to close the book.

To this end, Ms. Loweecey has given us another Giulia Driscoll mystery that's a worthy successor to the last, and I hope to see many more in the future. Highly recommended. ( )