Book Review: Dead and Gondola ( Christie Bookshop #1)

 My Rating :3.5⭐

Set in the (fictitious) ski town of Last Word, Colorado, the story revolves around Ellie Christie, who along with her sister Meg owns and operates the only book shop in the town, Book Chalet which has been in the family for five generations. The bookshop is a destination of choice for local bibliophiles with its cozy reading nooks, shelves full of books, and, of course, the queen of the shop, Agatha C. Christie, the territorial Siamese who is quite popular in social media circles.

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

The Christie Sisters(any direct ancestral link to the famous author is yet to be discovered) are fans of murder mysteries. So when a mysterious man, who visited their bookshop in the middle of a celebrity influencer's book club meeting when a séance was being conducted ( as a reenactment of a scene from  the Agatha Christie mystery being discussed in the group), ends up murdered in a gondola with the Christie sisters right behind him in the next gondola, they decide to do some digging of their own. The murder is followed by a burglary in their store wherein a book the gentleman had left behind is taken. Added to this is the sudden disappearance of their trusted employee Ms. Ridge who was last seen the night of the book club meeting. The Christie sisters with their feline sleuth Agatha C., their resourceful grandmother who exchanges homemade baked goodies for insider news and Rosie, Meg’s daughter embark on some “Marpling” of their own with local law enforcement not too far behind.

“Murder might be easy, but deciphering mysteries sure wasn’t.”

Who was this mystery man and why was he in the bookshop? Why did he leave his satchel and the valuable signed Mary Westmacott ( pseudonym of Dame Agatha Christie ) novel behind? Is Ms. Ridge’s disappearance linked to this man?

With a  cast of quirky characters (human and feline), a good dose of humor, an interesting mystery, and a cozy bookshop setting, Dead and Gondola by  Ann Claire, the first in the Christie Bookshop Series is an entertaining cozy mystery. I enjoyed the tidbits from Dame Agatha Christie’s life shared throughout the narrative and loved how her books and characters are alluded to throughout the story. However, the book should have been shorter in length. The pace did drag in places but after the 60% moved swiftly towards the end, the climax reminiscent of some of our favorite scenes from Agatha Christie novels. Fans of the Queen of Mystery would enjoy this one. I look forward to reading future books in this series.

Many thanks to author Ann Claire, Corina Diez at Random House and NetGalley for the digital review copy of this novel. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.