Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC of this book!

Dead and Gondola was cute, but not very special. The Christie sisters run a bookstore that specializes in mysteries in a ski town in Colorado. During a book club meeting, a strange man appears in their shop, and then is mysteriously murdered, just as their friend and employee vanishes. I enjoyed the few little things that were mentioned to bring the sisters' characters to life, but just found them sort of dull. I did find the mystery intriguing and was not able to figure it out, so that is what kept me reading until the end.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Dead and Gondola is the first book within the Christie Bookshop series. At first, things felt a bit chaotic because we were getting to know everyone. I felt like the introductions were being a bit rushed because I had to reread the first couple of chapters a couple of times. Sure, I still got confused with who was who from time to time but they were still entertaining.

The town itself seemed cozy and filled with nice people. That is until we have a mystery to solve. Along the way, we get thrown some nice twists that I totally didn't see coming. Then when the big reveals came towards the end, well, my brain felt like it was melting. Of course, that's when all the clues clicked into place, and I understood everything.

In the end, the mystery was fun throughout. I can totally see myself jumping into the sequel.

A fun, well written cozy mystery set in Last Word, Colorado at a gorgeous bookshop in the mountains. I found the characters and the setting really enjoyable, and the mystery was satisfying. I would love to read another installment in this series.

Talk about new favorite cozy! A bookstore on a mountain and the only way you can get to it is by a gondola? Sign me up. Then the MCs realize they might have witnessed a murder on said gondola? Double sign me up. This one was so cute and fun and kept you guessing at every turn, I'm excited to read more in this series!

Review of Uncorrected eBook File

Ellie Christie and her older sister, Meg, run the Book Chalet in their tiny Colorado hometown. Ellie has only recently returned to Last Word and is enjoying running the bookshop with her sister.

One morning, a mysterious gentleman slips into the Book Chalet and interrupts the meeting of the Chalet’s book club, Mountains of Mystery. He slipped out as mysteriously as he’d appeared, leaving behind a signed first edition of Mary Westmacott’s “Absent in the Spring.” Katherine Ridge, the sisters’ faithful bookshop assistant vanishes, adding to the mysteries floating around the little Colorado ski town.

When the stranger dies, everyone in town is shocked when they learn his identity. But who is the murderer? And what happened to Ms. Ridge?

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This first-in-a-series cozy mystery, with its requisite cat [Agatha] and quirky characters, is a charming nod to Agatha Christie. Delightful characters populate Last Word, Colorado and a strong sense of place keeps the story well-anchored. There’s literally a town full of suspects, an abundance of red herrings, and a plot that twists its way into an unexpected ending.

There’s a fair amount of humor woven throughout the mystery, a subtle thread of tension running throughout the telling of the tale, and an unexpected climax to keep those pages turning. Readers who enjoy mysteries and/or cozies will find much to appreciate here.

Highly recommended.

I received a free copy of this eBook from Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Bantam and NetGalley
#DeadandGondola #NetGalley

I lament the tendency of publishers to feel they must have some cutesy title, tying into the theme of their cozy mystery, with attendant cutesy cover art. Frankly, I avoid most cozy mysteries for those very reasons. I'm glad I overcame my reluctance to read Dead and Gondola. This cozy mystery was great fun, with characters I'd like to meet again..

This is a fun cozy mystery! I am a big fan of Agatha Christie, and this book is all about Christie, set in a bookstore in a charming town in snowy Colorado. The characters are likable and it’s a good story. Recommended.

This was a great book. I loved every paragraph, every sentence and every word of this masterpiece! I read it in 12 hours, which is a lot for me to do! It had everything and more laid out in the novel! I sure hope she writes more! I am totally hooked!

As far as cozy mysteries go for me, give me one set in Colorado any time! Dead and Gondola is the debut for the Christie Bookstore mystery series. It is a great introduction to the Christie Sisters, Ellie and Meg and the cast of characters that we can assume we will follow through the rest of the series. In Dead and Gondola, a mysterious man interrupts a Book Club seance at the Book Chalet (the sisters bookstore), and of course, is later found dead on the Gondola. Like all cozy mysteries, there is a rumble around town as many of the townspeople are considered suspects. This is a stereotypical Cozy Mystery, our amateur sleuths are way better than the police at sleuthing and it only involves enough danger to make the story exciting, but if you are looking for a cozy, this is a good one!

This a such a fun cozy mystery, especially for fans of Agatha Christie and her characters! The Christie sisters own the one and only bookshop in their charming Colorado town. The mountains create a perfect view to spend the day in front of the fire reading with Agatha the cat. In order to get to the bookshop and restaurants visitors and locals use the gondolas. When a stranger appears at a book club reenactment of one of Agatha Christie’s books and ends up dead in a gondola just a while later, the Christie sisters take it upon themselves to help solve the murder with their literary knowledge from the Queen of Mystery herself. With great pacing, an emphasis on family and a picturesque setting this book hit all the marks for me, especially being an Agatha Christie fan myself. I definitely recommend this new cozy mystery!

Great first entry in this new cozy series! This is a perfect cozy to read while cuddling by the fire as the snow falls. The story takes place in a cozy bookstore owned by a family with the last name Christe in Colorado ski town accessible by gondola. I loved meeting the characters that inhabit the bookstore and the nearby town. The author did a great job of introducing everyone and the setting as the mystery begins. The mystery had so many red herrings and I did not expect that ending! Highly recommend for cozy fans and look forward to reading more!

This is a completely charming cozy mystery. Ellie and Meg Christie run their family's chalet bookstore in the fictional tiny mountain town of Last Word, Colorado. The bookstore is wonderfully described as being overstuffed with twisty shelves and comfy chairs, and gorgeous panoramic views. I so want to go there! The bookstore hosts a regular book club meeting. During one meeting to discuss an Agatha Christie book they recreate a seance from the book, which spells out a portentous message. Soon after their employee goes missing and a mystery man who left behind a valuable first edition Agatha Christie pseudonym book in the store is seen entering the gondola. The sisters board the next gondola to catch up to him about his left-behind book. When they arrive, he is dead. Talk about a locked-room mystery, who ever heard of a locked-gondola mystery! The mystery is interesting, but the real delight of this book is the charming setting and the quirky cast of characters.

When sisters Ellie and Meg Christie find their bookstore's murder mystery interrupted by a stranger who later ends up dead, they put their sleuthing capabilities to the test by trying to solve the identity of the stranger and why he was in their shop in the first place. Various small town characters each come under suspicion as alibis are disproved and close friends are found to have lied about their whereabouts when the crime was committed. Additionally, a valued employee of the book shop goes missing and the sisters now have a second mystery to solve. With numerous false leads and more than a few suspects, readers will need to pay close attention to each detail if they want to figure out who the killer is before the sisters reveal the killer's identity.

I truly enjoy any book about a mystery, a bookshop and a sweet cat! The bookshop, Book Chalet, sounds charming, with reading nooks, shelves packed with books and, of course, the cat Agatha C Christie. That description means you just have to read this!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Don’t you just love it when a book surprises you? Before I explain further, let me issue some disclaimers:
I have never READ an Agatha Christie novel
I have watched MANY episodes of Poirot/Marple et al
I have Britbox for its mysteries (and Dr Who)
My tribe is those who find literary references everywhere, love cats and read
I didn’t know that Ann Claire was actually Nora Page
I’m also unfamiliar with Nora Page - so this book is two authors in one!

This is the initial entry into the “Christie Bookshop” series. The setting is the small mountain town of Last Word, Colorado, where the main activities are snow-related. In fact, most people use the gondola (ski lift) to get around. Ellie Christie (no KNOWN relation) runs the shop with her sister Meg, her niece Rosie, their Gram, and finally feline instagrammer Agatha C Christie.

Book club Saturday is anything but routine. A new celebrity Bookstagrammer is visiting and commandeers attention from the normal regimented discussion. A strange man shows up at the door, looking for a mystery woman. Someone leaves suddenly. The next day the girls witness this same man stagger into a gondola only to be pronounced dead before the next gondola trip can finish.

This book fit me better than a dust jacket fits a hardback. Drawing me initially were Austen/Alcott vibes (Ellie and Meg? I’m sold). There is a private book club - people leaving sticky notes in shared books! There is Library Envy (a real emotion)! There are boards of literary quotes! Bookstagrammers!! Characters with alliterative names! A bookstore with mazes of books!

Once I started reading it, I found that it didn’t always resonate constantly in my head. But I still wanted to read it daily, just to check in. The entire book takes place in a two week span. I wanted to stretch this one out. There isn’t an urgency to get it finished. It’s more important to get to know these people and walk around the town than to solve the mystery. (I got the right person, but not until about 75% through.)

This book feels like an ode to all of us out there who scour Instagram and Reddit and library boards. Those of us who leave quotes on receipts all over our book inundated houses. Those of us with unfinishable in ten lifetime TBR stacks.

While I’m waiting for the next installment to come out, I’ll be scouring the back catalogue of Nora. There’s always another blanket, another mug of tea and another stack to be unearthed. Now I just need a stuffed cat!

It's a very cute generic cozy mystery featuring sisters that really wants to hammer in the AGATHA CHRISTIE of it all. It's really cute. I enjoyed it, but it didn't stand out in any big ways. It had the tendency to over talk in a few spots, but over all, adorable start. Would read more.

3.5 / 5.0 stars

This was a fun cozy mystery featuring an alpine Colorado setting. Most of the story is centered around Last Word upper hamlet's sole bookstore - family owned and run by sisters Ellie and Meg Christie. A stranger descends upon the bookshop during a reading club session and upsets a number of folks in attendance. The stranger leaves a few of their belongings behind as if they had just stepped away for a few moments and is later found dead. Their stalwart and fastidious mature bookshop worker, Ms. Ridge, disappeared during the book-club meeting and hasn't been heard from since. Is that a coincidence. Surely, Ms. Ridge is no murderer but why was she so unsettled by stranger? Or was it something said at the book-club meeting. Leave it to Ellie and Meg to get to the bottom of it, (much to the chagrin of the new chief of police, Sunrise Sundstrom).

Ms. Claire's writing is clear, straight forward and rather humorous at times. With the story centered on a bookshop, she really caters to the love and hearts of cozy mystery readers. There's a plethora of potential murderous candidates and red herrings throughout the story. The tension builds steadily up to an exciting climax and then swiftly achieves a satisfying conclusion. This story was perfect palate cleanser between much heavier reading.

I am grateful to author Ann Claire and Bantam Books for having provided a complimentary uncorrected proof of this book. Their generosity, however, has not influenced this review - the words of which are mine alone.

WWAD? What would Agatha Do? Dead and Gondola is a good, cozy mystery book that checks off all the necessities: a cozy small town: check, interesting characters: check and a grump cat:check. My only regret is reading this book in the 80 degree heat; instead of during a snow storm, next to a fireplace and cup of tea. Thanks NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review

Definitely not my typical choice. Honestly I selected it without reading too far into the description because I assumed 'gondala' meant the Italian boat not a ski lift. Regardless, I enjoyed it. It was a nice cozy mystery. It made me wish I had read it in the winter with a hot chocolate rather than in the middle of summer.

I'm a sucker for cozy mysteries set in bookshops, so this one called out to me. Plus, set in Colorado in the winter? Yes, please! Also, blizzards, sisters, scary mountains, clever detecting, sympathetic suspects, multiple crimes, and missing beloved employees? Again, yes!

Although this story relies on many tropes of the cozy genre, the plotting is tight, the characters are relatable, and the pace is fast. There are funny touches, like Gram using voice to text and having autocorrect issues (ahem, a familiar problem), resulting in "huzzah is hot in loving" instead of "lasagna is hot in oven." Or like Mom, who gives feelings to inanimate objects, like a cash register having a spicy day. These bits aren't overdone at all. Sometimes an author takes a little character quirk and beats it to death over the reader's head. Not here. Just little asides now and then that make the characters feel real and like people I'd like to know. I look forward to reading the next book!

Review copy provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.