Dead and Gondola

The Christie sisters manage the family bookstore in a tiny Colorado town. A stranger stops by their bookstore during a book group meeting, and later he is found dead a the mountain transport gondola. Unfortunately, the sisters happen to be in the gondola behind his when his body is discovered. The sisters become involved in working with local law enforcement to sift through clues and help solve the mysterious death. Suspects abound, and suspicions shift as the investigation progresses. Aided by family members, Agatha the bookshop cat, and friends and clients, the sisters use their knowledge of books and mysteries to assume the role of Miss Marple and find the killer.

I read a lot of mysteries, and this one really threw me a curveball! I show more never guesses the perpetrator, which to me is a mark of a well-written mystery novel. The sisters and their friends are delightfully portrayed, and the wintry mountain setting adds an air of mystery to the story. I hope this is just the first in a series featuring the Christie sisters and their bookstore, which I would love to visit! The idea of the gondola transport up and down the mountain also added a delicious air of creepiness. Readers who enjoy cozy mysteries with cute animals and quirky characters will love this addition to their reading lists.

I received this novel from the publisher and from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own. show less

The Publisher Says: When a mysterious bookshop visitor dies under murderous circumstances, the Christie sisters and their cat Agatha call on all they’ve learned about solving mysteries from their favorite novelist in this new series debut.

Ellie Christie is thrilled to begin a new chapter. She’s recently returned to her tiny Colorado hometown to run her family’s historic bookshop with her elder sister, Meg, and their friendly bookshop cat, Agatha. Perched in a Swiss-style hamlet accessible by ski gondola and a twisty mountain road, the Book Chalet is a famed bibliophile destination known for its maze of shelves and relaxing reading lounge with cozy fireside seats and panoramic views. At least, until trouble blows in with a wintery show more whiteout. A man is found dead on the gondola, and a rockslide throws the town into lockdown—no one in, no one out.

He was a mysterious stranger who visited the bookshop. At the time, his only blunders were disrupting a book club and leaving behind a first-edition Agatha Christie novel, written under a pseudonym. However, once revealed, the man’s identity shocks the town. Many residents knew of him. Quite a few had reason to want him dead. Others hide secrets. The police gather suspects, but when they narrow in on the sisters’ close friends, the Christies have to act.

Although the only Agatha in their family tree is their cat, Ellie and Meg know a lot about mysteries, and they’re not about to let the situation snowball out of control. The Christie sisters must summon their inner Miss Marples and trek through a blizzard of clues before the killer turns the page to their final chapter.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: Meg and Ellie Christie, bookshop owners of Last Word, Colorado's, The Book Chalet, mystery solvers when a man who bumbles into their shop's séance turns up dead one gondola over from theirs on the funicular, and charming women trying to bring their worlds into agreement.

Meg, single mother of fourteen-year old Rosie, and her younger, newly unmoored sister Ellie, are invited by their retiring parents to come home and run the family's bookstore in their ski-resort hometown with her. It's a set-up that's an evergreen for a reason...it plays on the familiarity of a native place while still allowing the returned native a chance to "catch up on" the time they've been away. It also establishes the family's relations to each other, in that one would get a whole different idea of Meg had she seemed grudging or reluctant to accept younger, single Ellie to join the business. I think one is immersed in the sense of a happy family from the second their Gram comes onto the pages, knowing she has been their rock throughout life. That, too, sets a facet of the family's character as a system in addition to demonstrating the cozy-series bona fides Ann Claire is seeking to establish.

I'm a sucker for bookstores in fiction going back to the first mystery series set in one that I fell in love with: Claire Molloy's Book Depot in the Farberville, Arkansas, set humorous cozies by the late, lamented Joan Hess. This debut is joining a long and belovèd lineage. I am delighted to report that this is a happy meeting of fantasy (bookstores require *huge* amounts of labor and run on the slimmest of margins) and storytelling. The ski resort setting is nice, in that I'd always rather read about cold, snowy places than hot ones, but not outstandingly detailed. I suppose this is all a matter of what one wishes to have in a series-starting story...the sense of possibility is there in this story so there's plenty of room for additions and expansions.

Rosie annoyed me. She's fourteen, of course she was going to, but really this is a trope I can do without, the adolescent eyeroller. Anyway. At least she wasn't a bookstore cat, those horrible, misery-making creatures...like Agatha C. (for "cat" ickshudder) Christie. I mean, *obligatory warning of sexist stereotyping to come* I know I'm not a woman so I don't really get the appeal of cats *end sexist stereotyping*, but can there be a bookstore without a cat in mysteryworld now? Please?

WHat's right about the read far outweighs my grumbles about details. None of them ruined my reading experience. I am sure Author Ann Claire (also known as Ann Myers and/or Nora Page) knows her craft from practicing it for quite some time across several series. I expect a high level of polish from such an author and was not let down in this read. Recommending a book such as this is always touchy...what causes a series to soar is so often alchemical symmetry between author and reader...but consider this: I read this entire book that features a cat as a character...my most deeply beloathèd animals!...and am here writing a positive review.

This is an author with chops. Trust her, follow her through this story, and I predict a lot of y'all will have a new series to enjoy. show less

“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 show more 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!

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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. show less

A stranger walks into a bookstore. Not just any bookstore, though. It’s the famed Book Chalet in the ski-town of Last Word, Colorado, a resort town that draws the rich and famous. The man came in during a local book club meeting where they were re-enacting a séance from an Agatha Christie novel. Naturally, the planchette spelled out D-E-A-D-M-A-N.

He dies, of course.

And Ellie Christie and her sister Meg are witnesses of a sort. Of course, with the last name Christie and owning a mystery bookstore, not to mention being at the scene of the crime, there’s an expectation throughout the town that they will try to solve the murder. However, more pressing for them , their employee Ms. Ridge has disappeared. Given her scrupulous attention show more to detail and her responsibilities, they won’t accept that she just left.

They suspect and soon discover that Ms. Ridge’s disappearance and the murder are connected. Ellie and Meg are assisted by their grandmother and Meg’s daughter Rosie. Ellie also gets some help from a new romantic interest, an old high school acquaintance who is an enthusiastic skier and snowboarder.

Dead and Gondola is the first in what I hope will be a long series of cozy mysteries featuring the Christie Bookstore. It’s a completely fair mystery. We know what Ellie knows. There are enough red herrings for a buffet and the secondary characters are charming, nuanced, and going to be so much fun to meet again and again. Best of all, I did not solve the mystery half-way through and wonder what what was taking Ellie so long. I was surprised by the resolution and this confirmed for me that this series is going to excel. It turns our expectations on their head and that made me so happy.

It is also just what I needed right now. With so much that is grim in the world, it was a delight to read a book with kind people.

I received an e-galley of Dead and Gondola from the publisher through NetGalley.

Dead and Gondola at Penguin Random House
Ann Claire author site

https://tonstantweaderreviews.wordpress.com/2022/11/03/dead-and-gondola-by-ann-c... show less

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 show more 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. show less

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 show more 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. show less

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 show more you Bantam Books and NetGalley for a copy. show less