Super cute cozy mystery. My first by this author, and she had me wanting to visit a quaint little town in the mountains of Colorado. Minus the death

This was a really cute, sweet, well-done story with a wonderful, atmospheric setting that really made me feel like I was intimately there. I look forward to seeing where this series goes as I always love a good mystery with interesting, multi-faceted characters!

Many thanks for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Dead and Gondola by Ann Claire. Pub Date: November 1, 2022. Rating: 4 stars. Set in a small mountain town in Colorado, this is the story of sisters who own a bookstore together but somehow get caught up in a murder that happens on the gondola that leads up to their bookstore. This is a cozy mystery filled with family, books, a grumpy cat and a murder in the thick of it all. I absolutely adored the writing of this novel and it felt like a warm blanket with a nice cup of tea to be reading it. I think I may read the second one in this series because I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this one. If you are a cozy mystery reader, definitely pick this one up. Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review. #netgalley #deadandgondola

Dead and Gondola, book one in Ann Claire’s Christie Bookshop Mystery series was just the happy I needed after I had put away our Christmas decorations. There’s always that little bit of a let-down when something festive comes to an end. While I love that New Year feeling, I do miss the pretty lights of Christmas. This mystery was just the snowy, wintery escape I needed. And I have book two waiting for pick up at the library as I type this!

Ellie Christie has recently returned to her small Colorado hometown to run her family’s historic bookshop with her older sister, Meg, and their bookshop cat, Agatha–and a little help from her niece and grandmother. The Book Chalet is a Swiss-style hamlet accessible by ski gondola and a twist mountain road. It’s a relaxing and cozy oasis that this reader would love to spend hours in.

All isn’t well, though, when a man is found dead on the gondola, and a rockslide throws the town into lockdown. And this isn’t just a random person – this was the mysterious man who visited the bookshop earlier. What are his ties to the community and who could possibly be to blame? Ellie and Meg pull out their best Agatha Christie hacks to help solve this perplexing crime.

This book is a warm, wintery hug. I loved Ellie and Meg and their relationship so much. Their grandmother was adorable with her knitting and naps and the teenage niece was perfect (I can say this because I’m now a mom of a teen, ha!). I love stories that show the love and relationships between the generations. The descriptions of the setting were also a little bit of armchair travel–I felt like I was there and needed to bundle up while reading. Such a great start to a new cozy mystery series. Can’t wait to run by the library tomorrow and pick up book two!

Here’s the thing: I am not really a fan of cozy mysteries. I’m willing to experiment with almost all genres, but I should know myself well enough to recognize that I cannot really make solid commitments to the books in this one. When Ballantine kindly offered me an e-galley of Dead and Gondola, what I should have said was, “No, thanks,” but I apparently mistook myself for someone who does like cozy mysteries. I downloaded the e-galley and came to my senses when it was too late. Because of this, I have procrastinated on this story for entirely too long.

Isn’t it funny that I actually liked it?

I enjoyed this more than most of the others I’ve tried in this genre. I enjoyed it so much that I’ve already put the second book in the series on hold at the library. (Because, yes, I procrastinated long enough for a second book to be written.)

The vibes in this - a bookstore, an introverted protagonist, a cat named Agatha, and a murder to solve - are just perfect. It’s corny in all the right ways, and it actually succeeded in making me laugh from time to time. There are plenty of characters to be suspicious of and, while I correctly set my sights on the true culprit somewhere along the line, I was never certain, and I didn’t have the motive figured out. There were also other surprises to discover along the way. Plus, the writing in this was much better than I’d expected, which I’m basing on past experience. It’s clear I’ve attempted to indulge in the wrong cozy mysteries before.

So, in an unexpected turn of events, I finished this Christie Bookshop mystery in two days, and I’ll gladly visit this quirky setting again in the future.

I am immensely grateful to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for my copy. All opinions are my own.

The cover is absolutely gorgeous!! A great cozy mystery. The characters were sointeresting and very likable. This book is the definition of the perfect cozy book.

This book was a cozy curl up on the couch type of book and very enjoyable. I look forward to the rest of the series.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher!

This is the definition of a cozy mystery. The ski chalet bookshop could not be a more perfect setting and the Christie sisters were delightful. This wasn’t too deep or heavy but just a fun read. And I definitely didn’t suspect who the killer was!

Is there anyone who has read this book that doesn't want to escape into it? I mean, aside from the death it's the absolutely perfect place. And as a fan of mysteries the death just adds to the intrigue. The characters are delightful but more than anything you'll fall in love with the atmosphere and the story.

5/5 a perfect cozy

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this cozy mystery book! The characters were interesting and likable. It was a happy and entertaining read

The Christie sisters are officially running the family bookshop in a small town when a bookshop vistor is murdered on the gondala. Now the sisters and their cat, Agatha, must use their mystery book expertise to solve a real life murder. Once the man’s identity is discovered, the town is shocked and many residents become possible suspects for knowingly not getting along.

Agatha Christie fans will love the constant references, the cozy vibes of books, coffee, and cats as well as the close knit family who work tireless together to solve the mystery.

How lucky would it be to have a bookshop in your family that gets passed to the next generation? Ellie Christie and her sister return to the little ski town to take over their family mystery bookshop that has a resident cat named Agatha. Could there be a more picturesque setting? I think not.

I really enjoyed this cozy mystery. Ellie isn't in town long before a body is discovered in a ski gondola, one of her employees goes missing, and a bunch of other connections to her shop gets her entangled in all of the town drama. Isn't that always the way? I really liked the characters and banter in this cozy, and the winter vibes were on point. In true cozy fashion, we get food and book descriptions, very little icky gore, and a vague love interest. I liked being along for the ride. I'll pick up the next installment that comes out soon!

Short Synopsis: Ellie returns to Colorado to help run her family bookshop, when A winter whiteout has everyone trapped and a man is found dead on the gondola.

My thoughts: I adored this small ski town in Colorado, it totally gave me vibes of a similar town in Utah with a particular bookshop I love to visit whenever I'm there! The characters were great especially the Cat Agatha. I think every bookstore should have a bookshop cat! As a huge fan of books about books, the bookshop was the perfect location for such a fun cozy mystery.

This had such a fun cast of characters spun off Agatha Christie and her mysteries. The townspeople were so fun and typical of a small town, had to have their noses in everyone else's business. I thoroughly enjoyed trying to solve the case along with the amateur sleuths.

Read if you love:
- Cozy mysteries
- Ski mountain settings
- Agatha Christie
- Bookshops and cats
- Sisterly sleuths

This mystery will be great for my students. They will enjoy unraveling the clues and story building up to the end. They will also be so happy to know that it's a series and can look forward to new books being added to their library.

I love the idea of this book but the writing just doesn't grab me. It took me two months to get through it. I just didn't care enough to sit down and continue reading for long periods. The mystery was interesting, and as a librarian, I love books related to bookstores. I really can't explain why I didn't particularly like it but I didn't. If you like cozy mysteries, give it a shot, but don't expect an "edge of your seat" mystery - it's slow even for a cozy mystery

What a cute story about death and deceit.

The Christie sisters and family love their little nook of a bookstore in a picturesque ski town. I would love to have a place like theirs.

This story is entertaining and keeps you guessing as to who did it and where the missing employee is.

Thanks to NetGalley for my gifted copy of this book in exchange for honest opinion and review.
Dead and Gondola is a cute and breezy whodunit. The setting is a cute snowy mountain setting and the story has fun characters and a store kitty that was too adorable! Quick and easy read. Killer was easy to spot but I still enjoyed the reveal. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4!

Picture this: It’s winter in a small, stars hollow esque town in Colorado. A fresh layer of powder has just been dropped and locals and tourists alike are swarming the town on their way to the slopes. Downtown a small bookshop is hosting their monthly mystery book club, complete with special guest. The night is going smoothly except for a mysterious guest who is acting a little too strange for comfort. And then your famous guest decides to hijack the meeting with a seance that ends with a ouija board that spells out dead man. Other than some weird vibes, nothing happens until a few days later the mysterious stranger ends up dead…

Things are definitely off to an interesting start for our July pick - Dead and Gondola by Ann Claire. This is the first book in a cozy mystery series that promises food literary fun. And honestly, I don’t think it delivered. There are a lot of issues with the storytelling and the writing that left me slogging through this one just wanting it to end already. This month’s title is rated PG for Adults and includes the tame content warnings of murder, larceny, and lying. It ended up with a CAWPILE rating of 3 which equals a whopping 2 stars out of five.

Thank you Netgalley for an advance copy of this book.
Dead and Gondola is just the read you need after a summer of HEAVY fiction. Full of book loving intrigue, twisty mystery, endearing and annoying characters, as well as sister love and families made out of people who just care about each other. A fun read for the stormy night at my house last night. Loved it.

Ellie has recently returned to run the family bookstore with her sister Meg. Ellie lives in an apartment above the store. A stranger who had visited their shop was found dead in a gondola that takes people down the mountain. The only road in is blocked and Ellie and Meg must figure out who killed the stranger before Ellie becomes the next victim. Old friends and new help, or do they? Ellie needs all her instincts to figure out who the trust before it's too late.