This book had great characterization, excellent story telling, and made me want to keep reading. I will continue to read from this author and look out for their new releases.

I was definitely intrigued by the premise of a mystery taking place in a bookshop. I wasn't super invested in the mystery which made this book harder to get through for me. I did like the connection to Agatha Christie and thought it was a fun element to incorporate. I did love the grumpy bookstore cat, Agatha. The Christie sisters felt a little flat to me and I wish they had been fleshed out a little more.

“Eleanor ‘Ellie’ Christie returns to her hometown to run the family bookshop with older sister Meg in the absence of their parents. The Book Chalet sits atop the small mountain town of Last Word, Colorado, which is only accessible by ski gondola or one single road full of treacherous twists and turns. The shop’s endless bookshelves and mountain views are famous but play second fiddle to Agatha, resident cat and mascot. Up and down the mountain, all is wintery and quiet . . . until a stranger dies inside a ski gondola! The only two witnesses are Ellie and Meg who were trying to return a first-edition Agatha Christie novel he left at Book Chalet when he disrupted a book club meeting. When the police identify the victim, Last Word residents are shocked to discover the victim isn’t a stranger, and the list of potential suspects skyrockets. A rockslide prevents anyone from leaving town, but no one is talking. As resident booksellers familiar with the townfolk, the Christie sisters go to work, channeling their namesake and her beloved character Miss Marple. Their detective skills are quickly put to the test when the police take a closer look at some of their closest friends. Will the evidence condemn the wrong person, or is the murderer closer to home than first suspected?”

*Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from Bantam, an imprint of Ballantine & Random House, through NetGalley in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

If you struggle with winter blues, might I suggest this cozy mystery and a piping hot mug of cocoa? I guarantee you’ll like cold temperatures and snow a little bit more by the final page . . . minus the murder of course! Last Word, Colorado, is a winter wonderland, and the Book Chalet is a reader’s paradise, owned by the Christie family and currently run by sisters Ellie and Meg under the watchful eyes of their cat Agatha. They didn’t choose the detective life, but it definitely found them. Some of the neighbors have affectionately dubbed their efforts as “Marpling,” for obvious reasons.

Their partners in crime-solving are their beloved grandmother and Meg’s daughter Rosie. Rosie is a teenager keeping the adults on their toes with her wit and tech knowledge. Gram is doing her very best to keep up with the times, though she often runs into the formidable foe we all know as “spellcheck.” She has texted “Huzzah is hot in loving” instead of “Lasagna is hot in oven” and “Deep veiled trombones” instead of “Deep vein thrombosis.” Don’t even lie, that gave you a good chuckle! Additionally, there are a number of colorful characters from the town, every single one of them possessing a clear cut personality and unique backstory. Everyone played their part well, and no one stood out for the wrong reasons . . . well, maybe the murderer, but you know what I mean.

It took me a few months to finish “Dead and Gondola”, but the blame falls entirely on my reading slump. In spite of all the false starts and long breaks, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Ann Claire’s first cozy mystery, which is a funny joke if you know she’s written others under different pseudonyms. There’s room for improvement in the sequel so I’m settling on a rating of four stars. However, don’t be surprised if I reread this in the future and bump that number up. I can’t wait for more of the Christie family and the Book Chalet and whatever else Last Word, Colorado, wants to throw at me!

•

Content Breakdown: Alcohol, Attempted Murder & Murder, Blood, a Car Accident, a Concussion & Resulting Amnesia, Divorce (brief mention), Drugs & Drugging, Drunk Driving (brief mention), Exotic Dancers (brief mention), a Nightmare (brief mention & description), a Ouija Board, Poison & Poisoning (brief mention), Prison & Parole, Robbery, a Séance, & Suicide (brief mention)

Two briefly sensual moments: A romance book cover is described as a bare-chested duke & lusty duchess. When Meg & Syd hear mysterious moans & she wants to investigate, he suggests it might be a couple who wants to be alone.

This was the first contemporary mystery I've read, and it served as an excellent introduction to the genre! I feel like I would have enjoyed it a bit more if the pacing had been a bit more even, although the fact that it was a mystery novel made the pacing less of an issue. The chalet bookshop served as a great escape, and I look forward to other books in the series (especially if they include more cats!)
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for this ARC!

Rating: 2/5 Stars

When Ellie Christie finds herself back home in her tiny Colorado town, running the Agatha Christie themed family bookshop, Book Chalet, with her older sister, Meg, murder is the both the first thing and last thing on her mind.

When the appearance of a mysterious stranger disrupts their book club meeting and later ends up dead, the list of suspects starts to grow.

The Christie family goes on an unsubtle amateur sleuthing as the snow piles high around the town. When a close family friend ends up as the prime suspect, Ellie and Meg have to find the killer. Can they do it in time and prevent more disasters in their cozy little town?

This one just wasn’t my cup of tea, it was silly at times but the plot was too bumpy. I couldn’t focus on the story or characters long enough to form a deep a attachment.

Thanks to NetGalley, Random House - Ballantine and Ann Claire for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was super excited for this novel because I do love Agatha Christie and I'm always open to trying a cozy mystery series. I liked how you could tell that the author was an Agatha Christie fan, and how that was incorporated into the plot. I also really liked Ellie and Meg and the fact that this took place in a bookstore because I love bookstores.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

#bookreview Dead and Gondola (Christie Bookshop #1) by Ann Claire

🤔where did ya come from?🤷🏼‍♀️
- eARC from the publisher via NetGalley

😍the good stuff😍
- Agatha the internet famous bookshop cat 🐈
- Small town vibes
- Cozy mystery
- I didn’t guess the murderer although I didn’t feel terribly invested to try?

🫢my complaints🤫
- Slow moving for me.
- Not my usual choice of genre, so that’s kinda on me. I really wanted to like it more based on the premise and all the book love going on.

⚠️the warnings⚠️
- Mention of murder via stabbing. Not graphic tho.
- Mention of overdose.

rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Cute and cozy mystery set in a snowy Colorado town, easy read with and unexpected twist in the end. I would recommend if you like a cute, sweet mystery.

Cozy mystery with likable characters. Super cute, charming story. And who doesn’t love a grumpy cat named Agatha

I really loved this book in a new to my series and author. I can't wait to read the next one. The characters and location really add to the plot. This book keeps you guessing until the end

Great book to spend a rainy afternoon reading. Atmospheric, easy to fall into. Would recommend this book and author to friends.

nn Claire, author of several series written under different pseudonyms, has created a new series, designed to lure avid fans of both Golden Age mysteries and cozies. This homage to Agatha Christie
has it all. Multiple characters, set in an isolated locale. Here Claire brings her knowledge of Colorado to the forefront. After reading Dead and Gondola, I am ready to hit the slopes.

A family owned bookstore, a cat named Agatha, and a very dead body allow the reader to dive into
the escapades of the Christie sisters, Meg and Ellie. Their store, the Book Chalet, is one of the leading tourist, and townies destinations. Will a corpse, along with the disappearance of a beloved worker end the families livelihood? A galloping pace, with great dialogue and a clever mystery create a strong
foundation for this new series. Highly recommended for mystery fans of all ages.

There is a new fella in town. Others know him but the Christie's don't. He goes for a ride on the gondola and ends up dead. Who killed him?
Bantam book and Net Galley that they allowed me to read (thank you). It has been published and you can get a copy now.

There are many suspects and the police chief is on their trail. The Christie's are trying to figure out who the killer is, too.

It's a very busy book with several people arrested. They get let go and the hunt is still on.

One lady has changed her name. One of the Christies is developing a boyfriend. One person confesses.

But I had no idea who the real killer was...

This absolutely pains me, since I had high hopes given the description - an Agatha Christie-inspired mystery set in a bookstore... perhaps I've lost my taste for the cozy mystery genre, but I could not get past 17%. The stilted and forced dialogue, the cartoonish characters and silly names - and throwing far too many characters with thin backstories and sequence of events that felt thrown together and disjointed - made me lose patience and interest almost immediately. Too many other books out there waiting for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author of the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The stage is set as a cute cozy mystery in the mountains of Colorado in a small ski town. The main character, Ellie, has recently moved back to town to help run her family's bookstore with her big sister, Meg. The family, whose last name is Christie, continually references their love for Agatha Christie, even if they have been unable to find a familial link. This sleepy tourist attraction of a town is turned on its head when a mystery stranger arrives in town, only to be found murdered a few hours later. The Christie sisters accidentally get caught up in the middle of everything, and get to sleuthing, trying to solve the case alongside the police. The premise of the book is exactly what you'd expect from a cozy mystery. The atmosphere sounds charming, and the characters are witty but sweet. There are hints at different love interests without anything explicit. The murderer ended up being quite obvious, but I wasn't expecting to be shocked given the genre. However, there were some aspects that detracted from my overall star rating. First, I was annoyed by how often the author reiterated Ellie's love for reading and what a bookworm she is. As a self proclaimed book lover, I was able to tolerate more mentions than another reader might, but even I found it to become too repetitive. We get it -- this girl loves to read!. Second, I would have liked the characters to have been a little more flushed out and developed. If that had been more enhanced, a lot more of the story could have been shown, rather than explicitly told to the reader. All in all, it is a quick read that I would recommend picking up on a snowy winter night when you're in the mood to be transported to a small mountain village.

Thank you #NetGalley for this book in exchange for my honest review.

🚡 This was a fun cozy mystery! It is the first book in a series.

🚡 I love the punny titles used for cozies and this one is definitely cute!

🚡 There is a bookstore prominently featured in the story and it is owned by a family who are distantly related to Agatha Christie! And there is a cat…. named Agatha!!! And everyone (well, almost!) in the story is a book lover! What’s not to love about all of that?

🚡 This is a quick read, very easy to follow, and was a fun little mystery to solve while I was recently traveling. Cozies always tie everything up with a nice little bow at the end and this one was no exception.

🚡 If you like cozies, particularly ones with bookstores and cats, then this one's for you! I’m looking forward to reading book two in this series.

Thank you @NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Bantam for an eARC of this book, which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

This was such a fun mystery and I hope there are more Christie Bookshop stories in the future! The book is set in a snow covered Colorado town - a skiing paradise. Access by road is marginal, and people travel via gondola to the upper and lower areas. Ellie and her sister Meg run a bookshop, and after a mystery night séance a man is found dead.

As you can probably tell, I liked the setting. I also really liked the Christie family and I thought their investigations were clever and not too stupid (so many cozy mysteries seem to feature one dumb decision after another). The side characters were a lot of fun too, and the mystery kept me guessing.

What a delightful cozy crafted by Ann Claire! I really enjoyed the bookstore location and bookish theme of #deadandgondola and would read more books featuring Meg, Gran, Rosie, Ellie and, of course, Agatha. I thank #netgalley and #bantam for this ebook to read and review, all opinions are my own.

3.5 overall I liked that the shop owners weren't the murder suspects in this book. That is a frequently and sometimes overused plot in cozy mysteries that causes characters to act irrationally and implicate themselves further. The bookshop family, the Christies (with no official relation), LOVE murder and mysteries. The cute small tourist town was a nice setting for the mystery drawing in a wide cast of possible suspects. We got little glimpses of the townspeople that would be introduced in future books I'm sure, and spent more time with those knee deep in the investigation. Nosy small towns are always involved and gossiping. But also constantly talking about being priced out of their own town which led to our conflict.

I liked that the police chief didn't settle for one suspect but kept her mind open to new evidence and possibilities as things developed. I got tired of the "influencer personality" quickly and find that they take away from stories anymore. The wrap up was clean and made sense with enough of a twist that I liked it. Nothing felt too farfetched or unbelievable. I would be interested in a sequel.

If you find yourself missing those cozy winter days as the days are starting to get longer and warmer and you also love a great mystery then this is the perfect book for you. First I have to say it has some of the most amazing characters I've gotten the chance to read in a long time. They alone will have you completely in love with this story, but it’s the suspense that will keep you on the edge of your seat, unable to put the book down. I will warn though, this book may have you running out to get every Agatha Christie book you can find so you can be as well versed in her works as the Christie sisters. I highly recommend this book to any mystery fan.