Private investigator, Richard Steele, is a typical Scott Nicholson protagonist: cynical, sarcastic, selfish, somewhat crude but with a soft and yet unspoiled spot in his heart. He ends up murdered (no wonder) and in the ante-chamber to Heaven and Hell, one of the gatekeepers, “a wrinkled woman with a flowered hat and librarian glasses” has to decide where to send him. He wants to go to Heaven but with a past of mostly bad deeds, Hell is the more likely place. However, the lady at the gate does consider a few of his “really good deeds” and gives him a second chance. He is sent back to earth with the mission to solve his own murder and he has to do it fast.
His task isn’t exactly made easier by his dead ex-wife, Diana, who committed suicide, and is hell-bent on making “life” miserable for him. Then, there is Lee, his girl-friend on earth, whose life is in danger. This last job on earth turns out to be much more than a simple murder investigation. It involves cracking the veneer of his cynicism and accepting the fact that love is, after all, a true force worth pursuing. A fast-paced mystery with a paranormal twist, full of surprises, humorous, gritty, and tender. Scott Nicholson gets better with every book.
