As a big fan of Agatha Christie this book was a delightful cozy read. It brought Agatha Christie to a level one can be friends with and her family. As this is certainly fictional it still felt like you were part of her extended family. The mystery was good and enjoy to figure out. I would highly recommend this to anyone especially Agatha Christie fans.

Sisters Meg and Ellie Christie have taken over their parents book store in Last Word, Colorado. And, of course, there’s a murder. As they hunt for clues in this delightful mystery, they are joined by a cast of quirky characters, along with a social media-famous cat and a pony.

The writing was light and lively. This is a perfect beach read, or a snow day read, or a palate cleanser between heavier content, or whenever you want to read a fun story.

#DeadandGondola #NetGalley

My thanks to NetGalley and Random House Books for providing me with a digital copy for review.

Dead and Gondola was a cute beginning to a new cozy mystery series. Ellie Christie and her older sister Meg run a mountainside bookstore and are perfectly content doing so. They, their grandmother and a fellow employee run a mystery book club, and during one of these meetings a murder is predicted during an impromptu seance. During this seance, a mysterious man enters the bookstore looking for someone.

The next day he is found murdered. The Christie sisters then take it upon themselves to solve the case.

As far as mystery series go, this wasn’t bad. It was also a nice change where the main character isn’t accused of murder and must clear her name. Instead she and her sister simply look into it and follow the trail of clues. There really wasn’t anything wrong with the story. I didn’t predict the ending or the killer, which was nice. But I never really felt attached to the characters. It was a good pace and didn’t feel as though and didn’t feel as though it dragged. But it took me over a week to read, which is long for me. I am interested in the sequel. Overall a good mystery but not great. Mystery lovers will enjoy it and I would still recommend.

This was a fun cozy mystery set in a bookshop up in the tiny (fictional) village of Last Word in the mountains of Colorado.

Ellie and Meg are the Christie sisters, who run the bookshop along with their cat Agatha, and their employee Ms. Ridge. When a stranger is found dead on the gondola that runs from the upper village to the lower village, the sisters are unwittingly involved, and start to investigate.

Lots of twists in this tale, involving an old crime of investor fraud, someone hiding in pain sight, old schoolfriends, an actress famous for her online bookclub, and a sensible police force. Some twists I guessed, and lots of them I did not.

I found the characters fun and interesting, and was pleased that the police force didn't behave in an unbelievable manner. I'm hoping this is the first in a series.

A cozy mystery set amid snowy Colorado ski slopes with an Agatha Christie slant. This alpine village is teeming with touristy skiers and locals. The Christie sisters Ellie and Meg are running their retired parents bookshop. Their loving grams lives nearby and is frequently in the kitchen keeping everyone well fed. The store’s cat, Agatha, was a vigilant host and temperamental escapee.
There are many interesting and diverse visitors to the bookshop where Ms. Ridge is an employee. There’s Piper, society gossip reporter, and the lovely celebrity retired actress, Morgan Marin. Sunnie is the local chief of police. Rusty is one of the station gondoliers and his son, Syd, is a daring extreme snowboarder. Syd seems to enjoy Ellie’s company – romance brewing?
During a group Séance and Ouija board session one evening a murder is predicted. Then a strange man loiters around the book aisles and Ms. Ridge vanishes. The crimes escalate and Ellie investigates leads on her own. Some clues to the perpetrator’s identity are bound in transparent covers while others are hidden deep within yellowed pages.
It was an easy and entertaining read and a good beginning for a new series. I would read the next. Thanks to NetGalley for the digital advance reader copy of “Dead and Gondola: A Christie Bookshop Mystery” by Anne Claire and to Bantam Books.

A cozy murder mystery that does Agatha Christie proud. Can you follow the clues and solve the mystery? Let’s not forget the bookshop cat that is the star of this soon to be series.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

3.5 to 4 stars
An enjoyable cozy mystery set in the Colorado mountains. I liked the setting and the characters and their (Agatha) Christie references. The plot was also interesting, with a few side things going on. Books and Colorado mountains--yay!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a free e-ARC of this book.

Dead and Gondola (Ann Claire) is the first book in a new series. The Christie's family have owned a bookstore in their small tourist town for generations. The feline in the bookstore is named Agatha C. (Cat) Christie. When a murder happens sisters (Meg and Ellie, Meg's daughter Rosie, and Gram) set out to solve the crime and also locate their missing clerk. Some clues are sprinkled around along with a few chuckles, and a little romance. I want to thank NetGalley and Bantam Books for an early copy to review.

I read this during some of the very hottest days of summer, so the wintry setting, mountains, small towns, Colorado and a bookshop (with a cat) hit the spot. The two Christie (no relation to Agatha) sisters are now running the bookshop following their parents' retirement. They have a book club run by the assistant, Ms. Ridge. A celebrity, owner of Shelf Indulgence, a blog featuring all things bookish, joins the book club and insists on bring a Ouija board. The board proceeds to spell out D.E.A.D.M.A.N. About this same time a man comes into the bookshop, looking for CeCe, The sisters don't know a CeCe. The plot goes from there. Many, many characters, a murder, rock climbers, skiers, snow and more snow, a snoopy newspaper reporter, the gondola which carries visitors up and down to the village, autographed books, you name it - this book has it. Everyone is a suspect and everyone has an idea of whodunit.

This is the first in a series, thus the reason for introducing so many characters. It should be an interesting series.

I was in the mood for something different and Dead and Gondola was IT! The perfect mystery that will leave you on your toes and guessing whodunnit every page!

I would recommend this without a doubt, you should preorder this ASAP, I think I'm on a murder mystery kick because I just downloaded another, I am HOOKED

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC!!!!

This is a lovely, cozy read about a mysterious man who visits their bookstore and winds up dead.
There were a lot of characters in the book but as this is the first in a series, I am sure we will be introduced to them on a more one-on-one basis as the series continues. I love the snowy atmosphere and this will be a perfect book for winter. I will definitely buy this for mom for Christmas as the whole book just screamed her name.

The small skiing community of Last Word Colorado is the location for this delightful cozy mystery. This is the first book in the A Christie Bookshop Mystery series and I am excited to read more. Set in the family owned bookstore of The Book Chalet where the owners, Ellie and Meg Christie, have recently taken over running the business from their parents. The book hits the ground running with a mysterious stranger showing up in the middle of the bookstores book club meeting during a snow storm. We are introduced to a lot of people in the community as Ellie and her sister are drawn into, not just the strangers shocking murder, but also the disappearance of their reliable store employee, There are no shortage of suspects and along with the new to the town Police Detective, Ellie has to weed through secrets and hidden connections. The story includes the Christie sisters grandmother who makes lots delicious food, a cat named Agatha C Christie, and the town Gondola.

I think this is a nice start to the series. We have been given a lot of interesting characters and locations around the town and I can see lots of fun adventures to come.

Thank you Random House Publishing Group Ballantine Bantam for the ARC from Netgalley. This is my honest review.

A cute, light mystery, with lots of characters and some twists to keep it going. My favorite character was the cat. It could have been better with more editing and maybe less characters, but the setting was interesting and it held my attention for the most part 3.5 I think others will enjoy it

A bookstore, a town called Last Word, Agatha Christie, and of course a murder greet us in this enjoyable book with quirky, fun characters.

The bookstore owned by sisters Meg and Ellie Christie - a coincidence or are they related to Agatha Christie - is set on top of a mountain with access only being by a gondola.

They even have a cat named Agatha.

Bookstores are places of refuge and relaxation and in this case a book club and a seance were being conducted when a stranger popped in, left his things on a chair, and is then found dead in the gondola.

Who is this person?
Does anyone in the town know him?

How could he end up dead...actually murdered.

Was he on his way back down the mountain or did someone put him there after they murdered him?

The number of suspects has to be limited, right?

The conductor of the gondola knows every person that gets on or off or at least they should know.

DEAD AND GONDOLA is a delightful read with a fact I didn't know about Agatha Christie.

Did you know she had written romance novels under the name Mary Westmacott?

Enjoy when you read this book.

How couldn’t you enjoy it?

It is set in a bookstore, it’s all about books, and you get to solve a mystery and find a missing person.

It is out of my normal genre, but it was a fun change of pace.

My only complaint is that it was a bit long. 4/5

This book was given to me by the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.

This is a cute cozy mystery about the Christie sisters, a bookstore, and a wintry setting involving a gondola; what's not to like? Ellie runs The Book Chalet and often has author readings/signings so when famous star Morgan appears, people are genuinely interested. But a dead body appears soon after which throws the entire town into into turmoil as no one apparently "knew" him. Many suspects, many red herrings, and all that you'd expect from an Agatha Christie novel as well! So thanks to Ann Claire for channeling her! A fun read!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

Dead and Gondola keeps you guessing until the end! Everyone is a suspect, and figuring out who did it isn’t as easy as it seems. The author’s writing paints a clear picture of the setting and makes you feel like you’re watching it instead of reading it. The characters are warm and charming and you’re instantly drawn into helping the Christie sisters with their sleuthing. I would recommend this to anyone who likes a mystery novel! Thank you to Netgalley and publishers for this ARC.

I thought this was a really fun and different book. Now I won’t say I was swayed by the cat…..but I was lol

This book wasn’t for me BUT that doesn’t mean it won’t be someone else favorite book. I am just now getting into the thriller genre so that might be why!!

Definitely check this out if it checks all your boxes 😍

I received an advanced review copy of this book from NetGalley. I suspect I would have liked this book much more if I had read more Agatha Christie. I think there was gesturing and nodding that I didn't totally pick up on. As a stand alone mystery it was a bit meh but the location and some of the characters have potential if this is picked up as a series.

Oh gosh, I didn’t know I needed this book! It was a perfect, cozy mystery that had me wanting to be curled up on the couch in a blizzard reading — or living in a loft above a bookstore.

Ellie Christie and her sister Meg are running their family bookstore now that their parents have decided to travel. Ellie is back and living in the loft above the Book Chalet. She’s starting to get in the swing of things when someone is murdered on the gondola in front of her.

Ellie, her sister, niece and grandma insert themselves into the case to try to figure out what happened.

A lovely, cozy read

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Publication: November 1, 2022

Grab your fuzzy socks, hot cocoa and get ready to curl up with this mystery. I loved that the setting for this book takes place up in the snowy mountains of a fictional town called Last Word. This would make for a perfect December read!

This book was fun to read with a few gentle twists thrown in to keep the reader engaged. I did feel that the beginning was a bit turbulent and rushed when introduced to all the characters. The other thing I struggled with was that it was hard to differentiate between the characters thus making the book drag in some places.

I look forward to the next book and hope that the characters are a bit more fleshed out. Overall, this is exactly what a cozy mystery reader is looking for.