UNDER THE WHISPERING DOOR

Narrator Kirt Graves strikes just the right notes in this thoughtful exploration of grief, life, and the afterlife. When a decidedly un-Grim Reaper escorts Wallace Price away from his own funeral, he is seriously annoyed. He doesn't have time to be dead, much less whatever comes after that. As Wallace learns to be a ghost and a better person, Graves softens his tone from snappish frustration to a gentler sincerity. He also conjures depth for the characters who fill Charon's Crossing Teahouse--from patient Hugo and delightfully cranky Nelson to the sublimely ridiculous medium, Desdemona Tripplethorne. Graves matches his narrative pace to the measured unwinding of the story's layers, focused but unhurried, in the same way that Hugo brews his therapeutic cups of tea. N.M. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2021]