Thank you to the publisher of DEAD AND GONDOLA by Ann Clare for giving me a chance to review this mystery fiction novel.

This is a new to me novel by a new to me author..

The Christie sisters work at a library and a mysterious stranger who visits the library ends up dead during a snowstorm.

The sisters set out to solve the mystery and find the killer before the killer strikes again. I loved the characters and the cat's name Agatha.

If I could live anywhere I’d be in a little mountain town in Colorado. I miss seasons, snow, my tree friends! When @RandomHouse reached out and offered me an early digital ARC of Dead And Gondola by Ann Claire I was thrilled and said yes while doing the bookish happy dance.
Dead And Gondola is the first in a new cosy mystery series, Christie Bookshop. In a small snowy hamlet in Last Word Colorado, the Christie family has run the Book Chalet for five generations. After traveling Meg has returned home to help her sister run the bookstore, along with resident shop-cat Agatha. There’s a cast of quirky characters, an unexpected visitor, a break in, a murder, and a disappearance. So many suspects, so many secrets! If everyone is hiding something what is a clue and what is a distraction?
This was my first cosy mystery and I couldn’t have loved it more! The location was central, a character in its own right. I was so immersed, invested, and wished I could visit this little mountain town, ride the gondola, spend the day in the bookstore, and chat with the locals at Lifties!
I recommend Dead in Gondola by Ann Claire for lovers of cosy mysteries, books set in mountain towns, and Agatha Christie style who-done-it’s. This is a perfect winter seasonal read to gift yourself, or your favorite book lover.

I love a book about books and here we have a cozy mystery set in the mountains of Colorado. Ellie Christie runs a bookstore with her sister in a quaint ski village accessible by a gondola. An unidentified man is found dead after visiting their shop and Ellie tries to solve the case with her cat, Agatha. This book is cute and I enjoyed the story but it was long for a cozy mystery and thought it was rather unoriginal. Many of the details were familiar to me from other cozies I’ve read. .

Slip into your fuzziest slippers, fix a cup of cocoa, and grab a warm blanket to curl up and read Dead and Gondola by Ann Claire, the coziest of cozy mysteries.

Meg and Ellie Christie, proprietors of the Book Chalet, and the bookshop cat, Agatha, are no relations of the famed author, but are huge fans of mysteries as well as the cat's namesake. When a stranger visits the bookshop, and then is murdered, the Christie sisters cannot resist a little investigating of their own.

For fans of the cozy genre, bookshop mysteries, and Agatha Christie, this book is a fun adventure. The Christie sisters are likeable, and Ms. Claire introduces the reader to a small town with plenty of interesting characters, all of whom are likely to reappear in future editions of this cute series. I especially enjoyed the discussion and trivia about Agatha Christie and her books, including the romances written under a pen name.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing-Ballantine (Bantam) for the digital ARC of Dead and Gondola. The opinions in this review are my own.

A fun book to read.
If you loved the Agatha Christie books you more than likely enjoy this story which has big possibilities of becoming the first one of a series. The sister Ellie and Meg co-owners of the Book Chalet bookstore are keeping in mind their famous name share author, how she would have cleared the mystery.
Plenty of quirky characters and lots of red herrings. Suspicion all around. You do have some clues at the end that something is not completely right, and Ellie does manage to bring it to a conclusion by introducing a séance and listening to the vocal reaction of each person involved. If you’re up for some light reading, I can highly recommend this book.

This is a brand new series and I really enjoyed this first book and am looking forward to more in the series. Ellie and her sister Meg run their family's bookshop. When a man is found dead in the small town, the sisters must try and figure out what is going on! I loved the town and the characters! The descriptions make you feel like you are right there with the characters. I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.

This was a fun book to read. I liked the play on the Christie name & how the sisters are being amateur detectives. I also want to visit the Book Chalet. Highly recommend reading this book, especially if you're a fan of Agatha Christie.

Thanks to the publisher & NetGalley for advanced copy in exchange for my honest review

I didn’t enjoy this book. The premise sounded wonderful and it had certain elements that should have contributed to a lovely, cozy read (a bookstore on a snowy mountain, sisters who have a cat named after Agatha Christie, a small-town cast of characters) but it was lacking something for me. I think there wasn’t enough depth of feeling or relationship. I didn’t get the warm fuzzies between Meg and El or really anyone else’s deeper emotions or motivations. It was all more surface level. The plot wasn’t quite interesting enough to make up for the lack of character depth.

I won’t be sharing this review outside of NetGalley because I choose to only share 4 and 5 star review ARCs. Thank you for the opportunity to read this book.

If you’ve ever felt that you could solve murders based solely on the fact you’ve read, a lot, about solving murders - this one’s for you.

The Christie sisters - No, sadly not that Christie family, though they’ve tried to find a link for years - find themselves right smack dab in the middle of a murder mystery when a visitor to their remote mountain bookshop is found dead on the ski gondola in town, with some of their friends as prime suspects.

Usually, with these sorts of books, I spend most of my reading time trying to guess the killer before the reveal. This time though the residents were such interesting people - and kept me so distracted - I almost forgot they were all possible suspects and that there was a murder to solve!
Good thing I’m not an actual investigator, right?

Despite my distractions, I have to say this was a good mystery and I’d welcome another visit to Last Word.

Thanks to netgalley and Random House - Ballantine for the arc!

In the Fall I need the perfect transitional book that steps me down from my spooky horror reads and into my Hallmark Christmas escapades. Dead and Gondola was just what I was looking for! Cozy bookish murder mystery, check. Ode to Agatha Christie, check. Snowdrifts and lots of book talk, check. Oh, and an indy bookshop cat named Agatha C. (for cat) Christie with a social media presence absolutely seals the deal! The Christie sisters channel their inner Miss Marples and solve their small ski town crime spree with the help of their bookshop bookclub members. I am definitely looking forward to more of their adventures in installments to come. If I had any criticism it would be that I want to know more about the sisters, what makes them tick, and their family bookstore history. Hopefully we get more extensive character development as the series progresses.

Thank you #NetGalley and @RandomHouse Ballantine for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

A quirky, but rather drawn-out mystery. The setting is a bookstore in Colorado and the story is narrated in the first person by Ellie Christie who has just returned home to help run the bookstore when a murder occurs. The story has many characters and takes a long time to unfold and come to a conclusion. Several references are made to Agatha Christie mysteries. Unfortunately, though a nice read and an unusual setting, there was nothing compelling that made me want to keep reading and I found this book to be a chore to get through. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read and review an advance copy of this book.

A bookish girl with a surname of Christie and a cozy shop high in the Rockies. A snow storm should have her cuddling in front of a fire with the shop cat, Agatha, cocoa, and the latest best-seller. -But when the stranger interrupting book club ends up dead, Ellie has to team up with sister Meg, Gram, and niece Rosie to find out both who's responsible for the murder, the following break-in, and the disappearance of their dedicated employee. This is a frigid frolic through tourist trap of a town look for clues. Agatha Christie fans will love the references subtle and otherwise to the beloved author and her many classic who-dun-its.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bantam for making an advance copy of this book available for an honest review.

What a great start to a new series. This is a wonderful cozy mystery that was a joy to read. I loved the setting, the characters and the plot. It had just the right amount of twists and turns to keep you turning the pages I look forward to reading more books in this series.
I received a complimentary copy from Random House Publishing Group via NetGalley and was not required to write a review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Dead and Gondola by Ann Claire a quirky new cozy mystery. The story is told in the first person with Ellie Christie as the narrator. The author gives picturesque descriptions of the town, bookshop, and characters. I did not feel that there always needed to be such wordy descriptions utilizing multiple adjectives. I wish I could visit Book Chalet, the Christie’s bookshop that was a former ski chalet. It has a rabbit warren of shelves filled with books (every booklover’s dream). We meet a number of characters in the beginning as the Mountains of Mystery group meets in the reading lounge. It is difficult to keep them all straight (even after reading and rereading the chapter). I felt bad for Ms. Ridge when Morgan Marin sashayed in and took control of the group. There are references to Agatha Christie and her books scattered throughout the story. I love the gondola line that runs from Last Word to the base of the mountain. The whodunit was a letdown for me. The mystery can be solved quite early in the book. There are several suspects along with misdirection. There are plenty of clues to aid readers in solving the crime. The reveal reminded me of Murder, She Wrote with a touch of Scooby Doo. I liked that all the details of the mystery were wrapped up at the end. There is a secondary mystery involving Ms. Ridge. She disappears during the Mountains of Mystery meeting. Ms. Ridge fails to return to work, and she is not at home. It is easy to guess what made Ms. Ridge do a runner. There is humor scattered throughout the book. Gram particularly provides lighthearted moments. There is also the pretentious Agatha C., a long-haired Siamese who is the queen of the Book Chalet. Let us not forget Calamity Janet, a pony with attitude. Dead and Gondola failed to capture and hold my attention. The story was a little humdrum at times, and I thought it was too long. There were also repetitive details. Those who are fans of Agatha Christie will enjoy this cozy mystery. Dead and Gondola takes us to chilly Colorado where there is a mysterious man, a pretentious pony, a silly séance, an absent assistant, curious club members, gratis gondola rides, and a Ouija board omen.

!st in a new mystery series, two sisters run the family bookstore and must solve a murder with the help of their cat and what they have learned by reading Agatha Christie

This book was a great cozy mystery and the first in a series. About 2 sisters and their bookstore in a town in Colorado. Complete with a cat and an homage to Agatha Christie.

This book was a nice break from some of the thrillers I have been reading lately, and I will definitely pick up the rest in the series.

The characters were likeable and the town ajd bookstore were the ideal setting. The mystery wasn’t a very complex one to solve, but it was fitting for this quick read.

As you could guess by the title Dead and Gondola is a cozy mystery.

Meg and Ellie have taken over the family owned bookshop from their parents. Many in the area travel by gondola. When the Christie sisters are heading out on said gondola they find a murder victim. Being a mystery loving family the sisters and entire family couldn't resist getting involved in solving the case.

A must for Agatha Christie fans. Multiple references throughout the story.The characters, human and animal are all quite quirky, which fits right in with the genre.

Thanks to netgalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine, Bantam for the arc

I love a good cozy mystery read, and I also love a cozy read that has a ton of humor; we meet two sisters, caught in the middle of a murder investigation, and a grandmother, who is so adorable, and too funny for words. I got even more intrigued, because the Christie family are bookstore owners, what a DREAM! The book was a slow burn and I unfortunately as losing interest. The mystery was very easy to find and then there are a lot of twists that don’t make too much sense.

This was my first cozy mystery, and I enjoyed it - although it did make me want to sit in a warm cabin with the snow falling outside, which is not something that is possible at this point! The story follows Ellie, a distant descendant of Agatha Christie, and her family, who own a bookstore in a small ski town. All of the characters are united in their love for mystery books, and I thought the story was fun, quick, and easy to follow. However, the ending was a surprise, as is usually the case with a mystery, but I guess the whole point behind a cozy mystery is that it isn’t meant to scare you, and it wraps everything up in a nice bow. I really had a good time reading it, and I think I have found myself a new genre of book to read!

This ebook was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Typical cozy mystery set in typical vacation spot with typical MC and supporting characters. Nothing super exciting about this one, it delivers. Not my preferred cup of tea, but I wouldn’t mind drinking one while reading a book at the Book Chalet with Agatha on my lap.