Under the Whispering Door

I picked this up thinking it would be a light read, fantasy about a tea shop that is a way station for the dead on their way to whatever is beyond. But as author TJ Klune says in the opening Author's Note, "This story explore life and love as well as loss and grief. " And it did, indeed, do that, bringing me to tears when I finished it, even though it had a "happy" ending of sorts. 

The premise is that Wallace Price, a thoroughly not nice man and a shark of a lawyer, dies suddenly of a heart attack. The next thing he remembers is sitting at his funeral and seeing only his ex-wife and his ex-partners in the law firm in attendance. And nobody has anything good to say about him. The a young woman he does not recognize, comes up and tells him that she is his Reaper and has been sent to accompany him to meet his assigned Ferryman. Wallace doesn't want to accept he is dead, but is nevertheless whisked away to a distant place he doesn't recognize, a small town in the wooded hills. His Reaper, Mei, takes him to a weirdly built tea shop outside town called Charon's Crossing Tea and Treats, where he meets his Ferryman, Hugo. He also meets Hugo's dead grandfather, Nelson, and Hugo's departed dog, Apollo, who just keep hanging around the tea shop as ghosts to look after Hugo. We can conclude from various clues that Hugo is black and gay, while Mei is of Asian descent. Wallace steadfastly clings to his desire to return to his life for a while but eventually begins to recognize how devoid of meaning it was. When the deadline for his passing through the door on the top floor of the tea house grows nearer, Wallace tries to make up for many things he now wishes had been different and to help others who are struggling with loss. 

Publishers Weekly says, "Tenderness, wit, and skillful worldbuilding elevate this delightful tale." Library Journal also offers a positive review, "Tenderness, wit, and skillful worldbuilding elevate this delightful tale." And Booklist calls it "is a sweet tale of grief and second chances, and a ghost story about not giving up on even the most lost of souls."