Dead and Gondola was the perfect cozy mystery! Ellie Christie, no relation to the Agatha Christie, unfortunately, and her sister Meg run the family bookstore, the Book Chalet. One would think that nothing wrong could happen in the small town of Last Word, Colorado. But that's why it's the perfect setting for a wintry mystery with a variety of small town characters - the former actress, the knowledgeable gondola runner, the stuffy hotel owner, the former high school hunk, the quiet bookstore helper, and one famous Agatha C. Christie, the grumpy cat resident of the Book Chalet. With everyone stuck in the small town after a winter storm cuts off access and a man mysteriously dies on the gondola, the whole town wonders who is capable of murder? The new police chief has her suspicions, but will the Christie sisters figure it out before an innocent person goes to jail?

It had me guessing about the mystery and who did it until the very end. I had my suspicions, of course, but couldn't quite believe that's where the mystery was headed! I love the idea of a sister "detective" team, though one seems more into mysteries than the other.. I hope the author will create more fun and wonderful stories set in the quaint ski town of Last Word.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bantam books for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Start of a new cozy mystery series that takes place in a ski town in Colorado. The two Christie sisters are running a bookstore with the help of family and the resident cat,, Agatha. When a man is found dead in the gondola they put their sleuthing skills to work.

This was a lighthearted fast paced cute mystery book. Another great cozy mystery for the holiday season. Curl up with a hot drink, a blanket, and this book for a great time. I loved the characters and the romance and I can not wait for book two.

Meet the Christies: Ellie and older sister Meg, who’ve recently taken over operating the Book Chalet mountain bookstore in idyllic Last Word, Colorado. Though they wish they were related to their beloved Agatha - they aren’t, but like her, they do love a good mystery! They’d prefer to be reading them, of course, but when a peculiar gentleman interrupts their book club’s re-enacted fictional séance looking for “Cece” and later winds up dead one gondola over from them, what started as the stuff of fiction becomes a real-life murder mystery for them to solve!

With the loving support of their beloved Gram and Rosie, Meg’s wise-for-her-age 14-year-old, Ellie and Meg will consider the guilt or innocence of a host of Last Word’s bookstore patrons, friends and town visitors. Ellie’s adorably grumpy Siamese cat, Agatha C. Christie, might even deign to offer a couple clues with the right amount of fishy treats and cuddles!

Along the way we meet Morgan Marin, retired famous actress and her aloof assistant, Renée-Claude, professional gossip, Piper Tuttle, cowboy poet, Emmet Jackson, dependable shop assistant and bastion of knowledge, Ms. Ridge, her nosy neighbor, Glynis Goodman, gondola operator and mystery buff, Rusty Zeller and his outdoor adventure loving son, Syd, and Morgan’s half brother, Simon Trent. They all add a lot of personality to the goings-on!

Who did it and why? I recommend you try this charming debut, the first in a new mystery series, Christie Bookshop, to find out! It’s definitely a cozy, so no thrills or chills here, but you will find a very likeable pair of MC’s and an entertaining and eclectic supporting cast to enjoy. You’ll also find one of the most enticingly described bookstores EVER. Seriously, I want to go there! Grab your cup of hot cocoa, cuddle your cat or dog if you have one, and lose yourself for a few hours in snowy, beautiful Last Word!

★★★★

Thanks to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Bantam, NetGalley and author Ann Claire for the opportunity to honestly review this ARC. It’s now available.

Ellie Christie has returned to her hometown of Last Word, Colorado to assist her sister, Meg with the operation of her family’s bookstore. On their way home from work one evening, they witness a murder and their beloved bookstore clerk is suspected of it, so they set out to prove her innocence. Along the way, they discover deep secrets involving several townsfolk.

Dead and Gondola is a sweet, cozy mystery with endearing characters and beautiful, scenic surroundings. For me, the book was slow moving and dull, with confusingly similar names for characters, and too many unnecessary details that didn’t come to a clean or finite conclusion. It was an alright start to the series, and I’m hopeful they can only get better from here.

This was a decent book for a new series.

I liked that there was a gondola that people took from their homes to the small town. That was kind of cool and would be fun, but I also wonder if it would get old fast. Maybe not during nice weather since I am sure the scenery would be fantastic.

The mystery is well thought out because I was quite surprised at the revelation of the killer. It was not someone I had on my radar at all.

I did guess a few things about some of the characters, but I think that was pure luck!

I will be interested to see how the author brings more mysteries to this small town and to the Christie sisters.

What a fun, quick read! I couldn't help but fall right into the little-bit-quirky characters of the book from the beginning with their meeting up at a book club at a bookstore run by sisters Ellie and Meg. When the Hollywood star, Morgan, brings out a Ouija board - we know there will be problems! Finding a stranger dead in the gondola brings all the characters together in a mystery that has some anticipated twists and some you don't see coming. Enjoyable characters that are the beginning of a series - so will be fun to follow along on their adventures! Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this advance reader copy. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. #DeadandGondola #NetGalley

This was a true cozy mystery with its setting, characters, the sleuthing... And a great mystery to solve to boot! I quite enjoyed reading this book. It’s a perfect read to cozy up under a blanket thanks to its snowy setting.

👍
+ I really enjoyed the various mysteries at play here. There’s the murder, but many other questions surface too. I especially enjoyed the main mystery quite a lot, since it’s kind of like a locked room murder, but actually not.
+ There are many great characters here, all of whom love to read. A nosy and brilliant neighbor, a missing coworker, an ex actress turned book club runner, a gossip columnist, a cowboy poet & more! I think the book does a great job in setting up all these characters for the rest of the series.
+ I especially loved all the Agatha Christie stuff in this book. Not only are there many references to her books, there’s also a lot of trivia in there about the queen of mysteries' life, some that even I didn’t know!
+ The book also has a perfectly cozy setting. Snowy mountainside, with gondolas, a grumpy cat named Agatha C. Christie (C is for cat), and a pony that hates to be called her full name.

👎
- This was quite a slow read for me, especially up to ~65-70%. It’s well written but sometimes thoughts seemed to pop out of nowhere so I’d go back trying to see if I missed anything but I usually hadn’t.
- I way prefer smart cozy mysteries where it feels like the detective is ahead of me and I’m trying to catch up with their logic. Sadly most of the ones I’ve been reading, like this one, seem to shelf the most obvious hunches until later, just so it doesn’t get solved too soon. Instead it feels like I’m waiting for the sleuth to catch up with me.

Overall rating: 3.7⭐

Thank you so much to Random House Ballantine and NetGalley for the eARC!

Ellie Christie returns home to help her sister Meg run the family bookstore. When a man is found dead on a gondola they decide to investigate. After all they are Christie's, as in Agatha Christie. Good book one of the series.

The Christie sisters are running the family bookstore in mountainous small-town Colorado. Their parents are touring the world but their grandmother is still around for support. Their bookshop touts a cat named Agatha as what else could the Christies name their cat. When a guest to their bookstore exits the gondola and dies, the Christie sisters find the need to clear their name and their employee’s name. Great start to a new series.

“Dead and Gondola”, by Ann Claire is a nice beginning to a new cozy mystery series. If you like “Murder She Wrote” and Hallmark movies, this is your vibe! A historic bookstore in the Colorado mountains sets up the perfect atmosphere with coziness, a fireplace – perfect for reading until there was a mysterious murder.

The characters are charming, especially the Christie sisters and their sleuthing cat named Agatha. The mystery itself was overall ok, but I was able to figure it out easily. Unfortunately, I wasn’t completely hooked, and I had trouble staying interested. It was a cute cozy, so maybe it’s just me.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Random House for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Great Historical Cozy Mysteries abound, but it’s tough to find good quality cozies with a modern setting, so this book was a lovely surprise.

Dead and Gondola has a terrific sense of place, snowy and isolated but also cozy and bookish, and the murder of a man seemingly alone on a ski gondola is a terrific premise for our amateur sleuths, two sisters with the last name of — yep — Christie who own a bookshop in a tiny Colorado ski town.

The mystery itself (as well as its solve) are plenty satisfactory, and the setting and characters are terrific. I love an atmospheric cozy with both a wintry and a bookish bent, and both of those elements are well-rendered in this story.

There’s even a seance in a finely-crafted nod to Agatha Christie herself.

Fun stuff all around, and I’m pleased to see that this is slated to become a series.

Ann Claire’s debut novel, Dead and Gondola, is a cozy mystery set in Last Word, a small town in the mountains of Colorado. The Book Chalet, the town’s bookstore, is managed by the Christie sisters, Meg and Ellie. When a stranger visits the store and then is later found murdered, the women find themselves in the middle of a real-life mystery.

Dead and Gondola is a charming mystery and the author’s descriptions of the town and the surrounding area adds a great deal to the story. There are a variety of characters, the plot is interesting, and, with the last name Christie, it’s not too surprising to find some references to the famous mystery writer. Even the bookstore cat is named Agatha.

I found it refreshing to read a story where a majority of the characters are friendly to each other and the sisters are close friends, sharing a strong family bond with their grandmother, parents, and Meg’s teenage daughter.

My only complaint is that reviewing clues and events occurred more times than necessary and that made it hard for me to stay engaged with the story. But, all in all, this is one of the better cozy mystery books I’ve read lately and it was nice to step into a kinder world. It is definitely a good book for a quiet day.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

Ellie Christie moves back to her hometown to help her sister, Meg, run their family bookstore. She is happy to do so, but when there is a mysterious death of a visitor to their shop, the Christie sisters decide that they must solve the mystery once a family friend is seen as the suspect.

“Dead and Gondola” by Ann Claire is the series debut to the wonderful world of the Christie sisters and their cat, Agatha. These book selling sisters love mystery, but they never expected a mystery to fall at their door. When one man is dead and their beloved employee goes missing, the sisters begin to sleuth all over town. Can they find the killer? Or will they be next?

This cozy mystery feels like a fun winter read. Imagine an Agatha Christie book meets a hallmark movie. I like to imagine it as the sweet spot of light reading.

The cast of characters that Claire created seem like the kind of people you’d want to solve a mystery with. They were clever and thoughtful, but also they weren’t without their flaws which made them more believable as characters.

In the end, this was a solid 4 star read for me. It was quick and on the lighter end of mysteries, a good read for when you’re craving a mystery you won’t have to overthink.

Thanks to Random House Ballantine and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

While I did enjoy reading this and looked forward to the time I spent each day reading it, I think this is really geared towards those who are into Agatha Christie and like that type of mystery. I do not like those types of books nor have I read many from Agatha Christie so I’m sure much was lost on me.

I loved the little mountain top town where this took place, and I enjoyed the variety of characters. I did not enjoy that most of the time the story went similarly to the following:

“Oh! I know who the murderer is! It’s the librarian. Because of x, y, and x, she’s the perfect fit. Wait that’s not right, it’s actually the innkeeper. Because of x, y, and x, he’s the perfect fit. Wait that’s not right, it’s actually the gardener…” and so on until they’ve made their way through everyone in town until the get to the killer at last.

So, like I said, if you like that sort of book then I would definitely recommend this book to you. It is not a book for me and I still enjoyed reading it so it is a very likable book.

I was given a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the E-ARC. This book started off strong but I just got lost in the middle there were way to many characters to remember what each one was doing especially since they all could be the killer. The ending made a comeback but not enough for me to forget the middle part. Unfortunately this book did not do it for me

Agatha Christie has been my favorite author since I was 9 years old and bought a box set of Poirot mysteries at a garage sale. So, just about any mystery book that invokes her name pulls me right in immediately. The Christie Sisters and their cat, Agatha, running a bookshop in CO -- yep, reading it! Easy choice. How could I not? I live in CO...and if this bookshop were a real place, I would be there!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I like the setting, the characters, the plot....the story is just fun to read! I read my review copy of this book while watching the first snow of the season fall over the front range, sipping hot tea, and snuggled under fuzzy blankets. It was perfect!

My favorite character? Agatha, of course!

The basics: Ellie and Meg Christie run a bookshop, the Book Chalet. When a man is found dead in a gondola on the nearby ski lift, trouble starts. Rumors, secrets, a rock slide..... Can the Christies sift through a mountain of clues and find the killer?

Loved this book! I am definitely eagerly awaiting the next book!! This was the perfect book for reading on a snowy night in CO!

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Random House/Ballentine. All opinions expressed are entirely my own**

I was able to read "Dead and Gondola" by Ann Claire through NetGalley. This is a mystery with many wonderful elements. The main character, Ellie Christie, and her family own a bookstore named The Book Chalet in Colorado. It sounds like the most amazing, cozy bookstore. Unfortunately, a murder occurs in their small town and Ellie and her sister set out to help solve it. There are tons of Agatha Christie references. And a town full of unique characters. I enjoyed reading this mystery!

A Tour de Force for Agatha Christie lovers! You will love these characters and their rabid determination to solve the mystery of a man's murder!
You won't want to put this book down!