A new series set in a vacation town's local bookstore, this has both the small town vibes with a senses of change all around with travelers. The story follows El and her sister Meg who are now running the families book store when a murder occurs to a seemingly new visitor to town. I really enjoyed all of the mystery literary references and found it difficult to predict big plot reveals. I did find it a little lengthy for what is seemingly in line with a cozy mystery.

Dead and Gondola by Ann Claire is the first book in the Christie Bookshop cozy mystery series.

I absolutely love cozy mysteries and this debut in a new series is so well written.

The characters are fun and the mystery keeps you guessing until the very end.

4 stars = Great! Might re-read.

A fun kickoff for a new series in an unusual setting. I loved the bookstore chalet idea, and it worked well with the "small town" pieces common to cozy mysteries. The core cast is great, and the mystery was twisty. I will read more of these in the future!

this is what i envision as a hallmark murder mystery - a cozy read for someone who isn't into the gorey details . thanks netgalley for the ARC, in exchange for an honest review

I love mysteries set in bookstores and/or small towns, and this book has both. It was a given that I would accept the invitation from the publisher. I am glad that I did because this was a great mystery.

Dead and Gondola is the first book in the Christie Bookshop series. So, my usual drivel about reading previous books does not apply here. You can safely read this book and not wonder about storylines or characters.

The plotline for Dead and Gondola was interesting and engaging. Ellie has returned to her hometown to help her older sister run their family’s acclaimed book shop, The Book Chalet. Ellie wasn’t expecting an older man to show up at the shop, looking for a woman named CeCe and carrying a rare book. She also wasn’t expecting to witness that same older man get murdered. And she certainly wasn’t expecting her long-time employee to disappear simultaneously. With the roads out of town closed, Ellie takes it upon herself to investigate. What she discovers shocks her to her core and throws suspicion at everyone in her village. Who killed the older man? Why did her employee disappear? What connects the two?

Dead and Gondola is a medium-paced book set in the fictional town of Last Word, Colorado. I loved the description of the town. It is a ski town, and the author did go into what it was like living in a town that relies on skiing for income. But she also showed what living in a small town was like.

The characters in Dead and Gondola weren’t as fleshed out as I would have liked them to be. But, seeing this is the first book in the series, I expect some character growth in the later books. Besides that, I loved seeing the assortment of people that made up Ellie’s world. They were as unique as the town was. I also liked the darkness in this town and the people.

Ellie—I liked her, but she annoyed me during parts of the book. There were points in the book where I couldn’t connect to her. She became almost obsessed with discovering who murdered the older man and why. I did feel bad for her when the murderer was revealed. Honestly, I was shocked and understood why she felt that way. Also, I did like her flashbacks to childhood and reading. I was the same way!!
The storyline with the older man, the mysterious CeCe, his murder, the book, and Ellie was well written. The author took me on a ride with this one. It had more twists and turns in the plotline than a mountain road. And the red herrings!!! There were a lot of them. I loved the twist the author put into this plotline. And who the murderer was!! I couldn’t believe it. It wasn’t who I was expecting it to be.

The storyline with Mrs. Reed, her disappearance, the shop, Ellie, and Meg was also very well written. I was with Ellie for almost half the book. I thought something terrible had happened to her. But then she was found, and I couldn’t help but be slightly irritated by Ellie. I was like, “Leave the poor woman alone!!” Then the author had a twist in this plotline that had me shaking my head. And the author led me to believe one thing when the opposite happened.

Dead and Gondola fit perfectly into the cozy mystery genre. The author kept me guessing a few things (see above), and a big twist at the end of the book took me by surprise.

The end of Dead and Gondola was interesting. The author was able to wrap up the main storylines in this book in a way that I enjoyed. But she did leave enough wiggle room for book 2. I can’t wait to read book 2!!

I recommend Dead and Gondola to anyone over 16. It is a clean book (no kissing, no sex), but there is some mild language and violence.

I want to thank Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Bantam, NetGalley, and Ann Claire for allowing me to read and review Dead and Gondola. All opinions expressed in this review are mine.

I absolutely loved the atmosphere and setting of this cozy mystery. Snowy small town featuring a cute bookshop with an amazing history and theme, cozy fires and fun book clubs. This book is from the perspective of Ellie who just moved back home to help her sister run their family bookshop after their parents retire, when the unimaginable happens and there has been a murder. The writing and the plot for this book were pretty good. I did find some things predictable, but I still had a good time and what really made this book for me was the setting, descriptions and the family dynamics of the Christie family, plus the cat(Agatha). The heritage of the Christie family being related to the famous Agatha christie was so fun, how it was really woven into the story and bookshop, I loved it. I would really recommend this book if you're looking for a cozy mystery, I know I really can’t wait for more.
I received this advanced ebook, via Netgalley. This review is my own honest opinion.

The mystery is pleasantly twisty with a great list of characters.
Many thanks to Random House and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This one was a very average cozy for me. It had a quirky cast and I adored the bookshop setting but nothing about the story really stood out to me. The characters are nice, the mystery was good if a bit predictable and I finished it but I don't think it was a very memorable read for me.

Pretty cover, great premise, intriguing murder….but lacks follow through; this really could have done with a good editor. A lot of portions of the writing took me out of the story and it was much longer than it needed to be. That said, I will definitely check out the next in the series because I think the bones are good.

The first book in a very promising new cozy mystery series! Dead and Gondola has the Christie sister (sadly no relation to THAT Christie) who run a bookstore in a small town with the help of the cat Agatha. Full of books, murder, and mystery, this was a lot of fun to read. Can’t wait for book 2!

<i>ARC Provided by NetGalley<i>

This is a nice mystery story but maybe not exactly what I was expecting. The main characters are Agatha Christie fans and own a book store. A man appears on their book club and leaves, and hours later he shows up dead. Then they start to employ their Christie skills to try to solve the mystery. They leave in a city with a ski resort - hence the gondola to go up and down.

Such a fun murder mystery. I don’t typically read these but whenever I do I always fall in love with them. Love the quirkiness in the book and overall plot and content.

I loved this first in a new series...a lot!! Ellie and her older sister Meg, the Christie sisters are running the family's Book Chalet bookstore. The bookshop can be reached via a ski Gondola in the town of Last Word in Colorado. Despite the bookshop's resident cat being named Agatha, Ellie and Meg are not related to their favorite mystery author Status Christie. That being said there are many "What would Miss Maple do" moments in the solving of the mystery.
A stranger visits the Book Chalet during an evening book club meeting and later the two sisters spot him going onto the Gondola and upon reaching the other end the stranger is dead. Or rather the stranger has been murdered. And this begins the sister s, along with relatives Gram, and Rosie, and Piper a local reporter Marpling aka sleuthing. Chief Sunnie, who also is waiting to see her first moose is a great character. Thanks so much to NetGalley, Random House Publishing and the author for the opportunity to read and review this book. I hope the series does continue as I can't wait to be in Last Word again!

🚠Book Review🚠

Thank you to @randomhouse and @netgalley for this delightful cozy mystery, Dead and Gondola. I was emailed that I was pre-approved for this ARC a while back and I wish I had started it immediately.

You guys know what kind of Agatha Christie fan I am, right? Picture this, a quaint bookshop nestled into the mountains of a touristy ski village. The bookshop is owned by a family with the last name of Christie, though no direct bloodline to Agatha, unfortunately. They also have a bookshop cat named…Agatha. Two sisters are running the bookshop, including a book club when a strange man comes inside, disrupting said book club. After he leaves they discover he left behind his book. The sisters rush to the gondola in hopes of catching him…and lo and behold he is found dead inside. 😵

If you look up “cozy mystery” in the dictionary you might very well find a picture of this cover. Better yet, it’s a debut and is the first in a series! I can’t wait for the Christie sisters’ next installment, coming in October 2023.

Seriously, pick this one up. You won’t regret it. I. Loved. It. 🙌

I received a free copy from NetGalley. The gondola was a different setting that I found gave a fun new twist on a mystery. But the bookstore cat kind of made the book even more entertaining. A good cozy read.

I fell behind on reviews and the date is made up.

If ever a mystery deserves the description of Cozy - this is it. Set in a small town in Colorado, this story is inhabited by sister protagonists bearing the Christie moniker. With the last name of Christie and a cat named Agatha it is a foregone conclusion that there is going to be sleuthing in their bookstore. They are even referred to as the “Christie’s going Marpling.” Too cosy for words. “Visions of a dreamy evening… a bubbly soak in a magnificent clawfoot. Flannel PJs” and the constant reminders of Agatha the cat and her fishy favorite treats and dinner. The mystery with its convoluted here and there, now and then was fairly obvious. While it was just a little too cozy to be taken seriously it was a pleasant read.

Thank you Bantam Books and NetGalley for a copy.

This was a fun little mystery and I enjoyed it throughout. The writing style was slightly different than what I preferred but I still found this read highly enjoyable.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy to honestly review.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bantam Books for the gifted book I read along with the library audio.

Ellie Christie is beginning a new chapter by returning to her Colorado hometown to help her sister run their family's historic bookshop. It's a picturesque bookish destination in a small town perched on a mountain side. But when a man is found dead on the gondola and a rockslide forces the town into lockdown, things start to get very questionable.

Charming is the key word to describe this book. A charming town, bookstore, and characters. You feel like you are in the tiny Colorado town, hunting with the Christie sisters for clues. I thought the way the mystery unfolded was very interesting and how the layers of characters and clues were revealed was quite satisfying.

This is a cozy mystery, so nothing too gruesome here.

Dead and Gondola is the first book in a new shopfront bookstore cozy series by Ann Claire. Released 1st Nov 2022 by Penguin Random House on their Ballantine imprint, it's 336 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is a well written and engaging bookish cozy mystery set in ski country in Colorado. The amateur protagonists, sisters whose name is Christie, who own and manage a bookstore, are intelligent and believably rendered. The clues and mystery are fair play, and are self contained in this volume, so no cliffhangers or annoying "cheats" in the solution. (Which is more than can be said for the Grand Dame of Mystery, Agatha herself). They even have a shop cat named Agatha. 

The pool of suspects is small, and although the denouement and resolution are fairly easy to guess beforehand, they're well written and satisfying. It works perfectly well as a standalone, and is a nice lead-in to the next book in the series which is due out in 4th quarter 2023. The language is clean, and there's no graphic violence or sexual content. This would be a good choice for lovers of light cozies, the kind with whimsically eccentric small town characters, a town diner, a shop cat, and rural countryside. Readers who are fans of Diane Kelly and Laurie Cass will find a lot to like here.

Four stars. This will appeal to light cozy readers. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

This book was cute. Not great, but cute. I suppose it would be a fun winter cozy read, but honestly I can think of better options. There was one thing the author did that drove me insane, and I just couldn't get over it. Instead of actually having the characters HAVE a conversation, she would summarize it in one sentence. Example (not a quote from the book): Instead of A and B talking to each other, she would say "And then A asked B if she could have a cookie and B said yes." This pulled me so far out of the story, and it just kept happening. I wanted to like this book, because I truly love the characters, but the writing style was something I've never seen before and just couldn't get on board with.