If romantic love survives death, and if one could be certain of her ability to reanimate, is killing oneself a suicide, or simply a tool to alter the temporal existence? And if death can't break an earthly partnering, are deceit and treachery the only options for freedom? Audrey Niffenegger, once again mucking about in supernatural affairs, raises these questions in the new novel, "Her Fearful Symmetry." The book posits a reality where there is, indeed, a trap door out of the grave and a grieving lover must choose between an ethereal paramour and one made out of nubile young flesh. Though the first half of the novel is drowsy and airless, "Her Fearful Symmetry" finishes strong: Niffenegger whips through a twisting climax and conclusion deftly and engagingly enough to make up for the novel's meandering start.

Niffenegger's previous book, the bestselling "The Time Traveler's Wife," had its besotted heroes living out their anguished love affair amid the throngs at Thai restaurants and Violent Femmes concerts in Chicago. "Her Fearful Symmetry" is set in the rather more claustrophobic confines of a small London apartment building abutting a historic cemetery. Jettisoning the extraneous cultural name-drops of "Wife," however, has created a more focused setting for Niffenegger's Gothic imaginings. And, frankly, Niffenegger sells the outrageous premise of "Symmetry" much better than she did with the mishmashed, full-of-holes "huh?" plot of "Wife."

When Elspeth Noblin dies, she leaves her London apartment to her twin American nieces, Julia and Valentina, whom she's never met. The twins, bright but inexperienced, move into the apartment and soon find themselves interacting with Elspeth's ghost as well as with the other residents of the small apartment building. Julia befriends the obsessive-compulsive crossword puzzle writer who cannot leave his flat, and Valentina becomes involved with Robert, Elspeth's mournful lover. When the now-ethereal Elspeth accidentally kills a kitten and then brings it back to life, Valentina gets some curious and creepy ideas about how to create distance between herself and her clingy sister.

Niffenegger sprinkles a welcome dab of malice and ruthlessness (notably absent in the goo-goo-eyed lovers of "Wife") to some characters' actions, which adds immensely to the novel's ability to surprise and entertain. And Niffenegger -- for the most part -- employs a graceful, streamlined style that seems in keeping with the setting of Victorian gravestones and well-read British ghosts. The theme of how a hypothetical ability to reanimate can't overcome grief is not new and was arguably better expressed in Stephen King's "Pet Sematary," but "Her Fearful Symmetry" -- once it hits its stride -- is chilling, thought-provoking and the kind of story that lingers like an unquiet ghost.

Cherie Parker, a native of central Minnesota, lives in Washington, D.C.