At first glance, Mitchell David “Mitch” Albom seems to be an unusual choice when it comes to writing books preoccupied with the afterlife and how the living deal with it. A Detroit, Michigan sportswriter by trade, Albom’s first two bestselling books were actually nonfiction tomes about a coach (1989’s “Bo”) and a college team (1993’s “Fab Five”).

It was Albom’s third book, about the last days of Albom’s college mentor, that made him famous. That was 1997’s “Tuesdays with Morrie,” an inspiring and insightful recollection of sociology professor Morrie Schwartz’s words as the teacher was dying from Lou Gehrig’s Disease. “Tuesdays with Morrie” begat a TV movie, a stage play, and sold millions, establishing Albom as a major author.

Albom has since shifted mostly to fiction, usually dealing with spiritual questions and the afterlife in his novels such as 2003’s “The Five People You Meet in Heaven” (it is pretty much what it sounds like), 2006’s “For One More Day” (a son gets the rare opportunity to spend one day with his dead mom), and 2012’s “The Time Keeper” (a man invents the clock but is punished for it, learning the value of time in the process). His novels are all about conflicted people learning important life lessons.

Surprise

That is true for Albom’s newest book, “The First Phone Call from Heaven: A Novel” (HarperCollins, New York, 2013, 325 pages), which is both what you expect and quite a surprise.

In the quiet town of Coldwater, Michigan, phones begin ringing on a Friday. People pick up, only to hear the voice of dead loved one on the other end.

Katherine Yellin listens to her sister Diane. “It’s better than we dreamed, Kath,” Diane says. Tess Rafferty listens to her mother Ruth. Sheriff Jack Sellers listens to his son Robbie. “The end is not the end,” Robbie says. The recipients of the unusual phone calls react different—as will the readers. “What happens next depends on how much you believe,” Albom writes.

“Heaven” becomes populated by an interesting group of characters with different concerns. Sully Harding, a former fighter pilot, returns to Coldwater, after spending time in jail for a controversial mid-air collision, to be with his son Jules and mourn for his wife Giselle. He does not like what he hears. Pastor Warren realizes he must deal with the rumors his congregation is hearing around town. He has a strange feeling about the whispers. A rookie reporter named Amy Penn is sent by a TV station to cover what will become known as the “Miracle at Coldwater.” She will be changed by what she sees.

Albom uses his journalistic experience to create a believable small town full of detail even as he uses anecdotes from Alexander Graham Bell’s invention of the telephone in parallel to the strange happenings in Coldwater.

Enthralled

As news gets out, the whole world becomes enthralled with what’s going on in Coldwater. Cell phones (a particular model known for receiving the ghostly calls) sell out. Pilgrims and protestors arrive. Some take advantage. Others believe. As the mystery deepens, the mayor decides to have Katherine receive a call live on TV. Sully and his friends work to uncover who or what is behind the phone calls. “Heaven” achieves a level of complexity and mystery that’s never been read in an Albom book.

“Throughout Coldwater, there was a palpable feeling that this date in history, three days before Christmas, might bring a change to life as we knew it.” The book propels itself towards the conclusion, where a couple of well-placed twists both satisfy and provoke. You may see one coming but not the other. You can argue the ending is convenient but also effective. What exactly is a miracle? What is the right thing to do?

The book is a fine balancing act between conspiracy and preaching, not an easy thing to do. “What do you do when the dead return? It is the thing people most fear—yet, in some cases, most desire.” This is the deeper question this novel asks, one which Mitch Albom both encourages but also subverts in “The First Phone Call from Heaven,” his least saccharine and most complex novel yet, making it his best so far with a mix of elements he may want to utilize more often in the future.

Available in paperback at National Book Store.