Dead and Gondola: A Christie Bookshop Mystery

by Ann Claire

In this series debut, a mysterious bookshop visitor dies under murderous circumstances, compelling the Christie sisters and their cat, Agatha, to call on all they’ve learned about solving mysteries from their favorite novelist.

“A fair-play plot, vivid characters, fascinating facts about Dame Agatha, and an intelligent and appealing protagonist make this a winner.”—Publishers Weekly

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 beloved 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. At least, until trouble blows in with a wintry whiteout. A man is found dead on the gondola, and a rockslide throws the town into lockdown—no one in, no one out.

The victim was a mysterious stranger who’d visited the bookshop. At the time, his only blunders had been 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. Motives and secrets swirl like the snow, but when the police 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 realize they must summon their inner Miss Marple to trek through a blizzard of clues before the killer turns the page to their final chapter.

• ISBN10: 0593496345
• ISBN13: 9780593496343
• Publish Date: 1 November 2022
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Random House USA Inc
• Imprint: Random House Inc
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 288
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780593496343

Reviews

[chymerra]

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.

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

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.

[Quirky Cat]

I've been craving another cozy mystery series for ages (I'm going to blame Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mystery series for getting me back in the cozy mystery mood). So when I saw Dead and Gondola, I knew I had to try it. This is the first novel in the Christie Bookshop series, written by Ann Claire. Brownie points for the punny title, naturally.

Ellie Christie has finally made her way back home only to find that things are not as calm and quiet as she had remembered. Or perhaps that's the recent murder making everything feel much more chaotic.

Ellie and her family run a sweet little bookshop named the Book Chalet. It even has a bookstore cat named Agatha. But when a customer is suddenly murdered, it will take Ellie, her sisters, and Agatha combined to solve the case.

“An active imagination was an occupational hazard of a life with books.”

You can't promise me a cozy mystery involving a crime-solving cat and not expect me to dive in with everything I have! But seriously, I've been looking forward to finding a new series such as this, so I was excited to give Dead and Gondola a try.

There is so much charm in this book that it may sometimes feel a bit stifling. Likewise, there are many delightful cozy mystery tropes, from the family that loves murder mysteries to the bookshop cat. It's all quite idyllic if you're willing to overlook the body.

I'll confess that the humor (okay, and the cat) enchanted me here. It was so refreshing to sit down and laugh while reading. Clearly, I've been reading too many dark books lately (is there such a thing?).

Let us not forget all of the Agatha Christie references – in case the description alone didn't make that obvious! You'll find plenty of little references, hat tips, and easter eggs here, so if that is your jam, you're in luck!

Admittedly, the pacing for Dead and Gondola wasn't perfect. Some scenes could have been cut out, making the novel shorter and with a more rapid pace. But all things said and done, it was still a fun mystery to read.

Thanks to Bantam and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

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