For paranormal fans hungry for a story that doesn’t involve vampires, werewolves or psychics, Merline Lovelace’s Closer Encounters offers a wonderfully fresh alternative. The latest in her Code Name: Danger series, it’s part period mystery, part ghost story, with a dash of action and romance. It’s far from perfect, but there is much here to enjoy.

Agent Drew McDowell’s mission is to track down a woman named Tracy Brandt and uncover why she’s making inquiries into the USS Kallister, a naval ship carrying a top-secret cargo. Could she be a traitor trying to expose the ship to danger from terrorists? He tracks her down on Catalina Island off the California coast, where he soon saves her from tumbling to her death from a high balcony. Oddly enough, she claims she was distracted by music, when Drew didn’t hear any playing nearby.

As Drew gets close to Tracy to confirm her guilt or innocence, her behavior only gets stranger. Tracy is captivated by the mystery of Trixie Halston, a big band singer who died in November 1941 – by falling from that very balcony. She says the Kallister she’s investigating isn’t the modern ship, but the one that set sail from Catalina 65 years ago on the day after Trixie’s death, carrying the man the singer loved. The earnest Tracy sure doesn’t seem like a traitor. But then one night, the quiet modern woman turns into someone else altogether, a bold, brassy dame with an outdated way of speaking – who claims to be Trixie Halston. As Tracy switches back and forth from herself to this other woman, Drew has to wonder if she’s unhinged, or if she could really be possessed by a ghost from the past.

This is a fun, very fast-paced read that races along from start to finish. The moody opening scene depicting Trixie’s final performance and death immediately grabbed my attention, and the story held it until the poignant closing moment. Lovelace has an engaging style, which came as a relief after the number of series romances I’ve tried lately that I’ve struggled to get into. That wasn’t a problem here.

What I enjoyed most about the book was everything period-related. The World War II era is still underutilized in romance, and the author chooses a very interesting time and locale to make the focus of her story. The mystery about Trixie’s death is intriguing, and as the characters dig into the puzzle, the author imparts historical information about Catalina and the United States before its entry into the war, all of which I found fascinating. Lovelace nicely conveys a feel for the time, providing some ’40s atmosphere through Trixie, the recordings of her performances the characters uncover and the information they dig up about her. I loved all of this stuff.

If only the characters had been developed more, or at all. Both are somewhat sketched out, with a few obligatory details of their pasts. Drew has an ex-wife who left him because she was unhappy about being married to a navy man. Tracy is lonely, without family, and she recently lost her oldest friend in the world, who was connected to Trixie. That’s really all there is to them. To the author’s credit, they both come across as likable people, but their characters aren’t explored with any depth whatsoever and they remain pretty thin creations. The romance is acceptable, but similarly undernourished. But then, most of this story has a shallow feel to it. For the most part, deeper development of any kind is sacrificed in favor of the fast pace and the plot.

Still, as a fast-paced mystery/suspense tale with period flair, Closer Encounters worked for me. With more development all around it could have been a great book, but nevertheless I enjoyed what it was. The premise is original, the setting is unusual and the storyline is consistently interesting. It may not be a particularly strong romance, but I still found it to be an entertaining read.