Evangeline's Ghost by C. A. Pack

Evangeline is a World War II spy who is assassinated when she's about to testify against a Nazi war criminal. She can't get into Heaven immediately, and so to speed the process along Saint Peter sends her spirit back to earth to bring her killer to justice.

Evangeline arrives in New York in 1946 where she reunites with her late colleague, Nigel, who is also looking for his killer so his spirit can finally rest in peace. Together they come across a plot to murder President Harry Truman, and they must work their way around the limitations of their paranormal existence in order to save him.

Fiction allows this story to be far-fetched and that's best part of it. Unfortunately, there's little else to enjoy.

The principal characters Evangeline, Nigel, Bunny Stanton and Sigmund Feuermacht are cartoonish. A simmering romance between the heroes keeps threatening to boil over - a cheap trick to try to keep readers interested - and their ghostly state apparently hasn't affected their sexual appetites any. For being dead they get a lot done but without actually doing anything. Apparently there are levels of ghostliness and these novices are stuck mostly watching the action around them and thinking - the worst kind of action.

The villains aren't anything spectacular, either, but considering the large inactivity on the heroes' part they are a welcome respite. Bunny Stanton (love that name, by the way) is beautiful and apparently deadly though she doesn't do much to show the latter trait. Feuermacht is your typical Nazi bad guy who likes to tamper with brakes and poison. Yeah, he's bad but predictable and it's easy to see where he's headed.

There is a bright point to the story. Heaven runs like a modern beauracracy full of so many rules, red tape and heirarchy its comical. Saint Peter seems to thrive on delaying action for the sheer joy of it. He makes promises to look into his files for certain people while at the same time he uses his mystical powers to get tasks done. He brings comic relief to a cumbersome story though he's used as a crutch too easily to get people - er, spirits - into or out of a jam.

Evangeline's Ghost is not bad but it's not good, either. It's an interesting premise that's clumsily executed which left me feeling indifferent.

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