Hi, everyone.

I’m Ellie Christie, and oh my, what a day to introduce myself. Just last night, my older sister Meg and I witnessed something awful. We were on the gondola and. . .

Wait. Maybe I should clarify. Not a Venetian gondola. A ski gondola, your own glass carriage floating above the pines and aspens.

A gondola connects the two parts of my hometown, Last Word, Colorado, deep in the Rocky Mountains. The main village is tucked at the base of a scenic box canyon. It’s larger. Well, comparatively. There’s not a street light in sight, but we do have a vibrant downtown with quaint brick buildings hailing from the gold-rush days.

Then there’s the upper hamlet, perched on a mountain meadow. It’s postcard pretty with Swiss-style chalets. The architecture was inspired by the first building up here, a chalet for books and bibliophiles built by my great-great-grandad. My family and I carry on his legacy and his bookshop, the Book Chalet, a legendary bibliophile destination and readers’ retreat.

The gondola is the best way to get to the Book Chalet. For the stunning price of free, you can glide between the lower and upper villages. The views are amazing. Treetops and wildlife. Distant toothy peaks. Skiers zipping down the slopes. Stunning sunsets and twinkling lights and endless stars at night.

I’m delaying, aren’t I? I was about to tell you what Meg and I saw last night. A death. A murder!

Like I was saying, we were on the gondola, heading down for dinner at our grandmother’s house when. . .

Maybe I shouldn’t say. I want to make a good impression. I can’t have you thinking I’m someone who finds bodies wherever she goes!

Here’s more about me. I’m 33 and love books, especially mysteries. My favorite author? Agatha Christie, of course! How I wish I could say that my branch of Christies has even a tiny twig on Dame Agatha’s family tree. Alas, we’ve searched, but the only Agatha in our family is our bookshop cat, a fluffy, frowny Siamese.

Agatha C (as in Cat) Christie is my roommate now. Less than a month ago, I moved back to Last Word after years of traveling the world on bookish jobs. I wanted to see and experience places I’d read about in books. I had some great gigs along the way, but now I have my dream job. My sister and I are the newest co-caretakers of the Book Chalet!

Not to brag, but I also have the best digs around. I moved into the rustic loft above the shop. Sleeping above a chalet stuffed with books, what could be better?

As I write this, I’m down in the Reading Lounge with Agatha. In off-hours, the lounge feels like my own private library. We’re in a velvet armchair positioned just right for the best of all views. Pine logs crackling in the hearth, bookshelves rising to the rafters, and puffy snowflakes pirouetting outside the wall of windows. It’s a perfect day to stay inside and read.

Except I have a feeling Meg and I will be busy with more than books. Murder, mysteries, and secrets have blown in with a wintery storm. We fear a friend is in danger. The killer is likely still in town too. A rockslide shut off the main road leading into town. That means we’re basically trapped here. No one in, no one out.

My sister and I aren’t professional detectives. However, we are Christies and experts on mysteries. What would Miss Marple do? She’d knit up information and clues. Hopefully we can too.

We have friends and family to help us, including our grandmother and my teenage niece. Who knows, perhaps our bookshop cat will lend a paw. A cat did provide a case-breaking clue to Miss Marple. . .

Please wish us luck, and if you have a chance, drop by the Book Chalet. It’s the perfect spot to spend a cozy day and get lost in a book.

Dead and Gondola, A Christie Bookshop Mystery #1
Genre: Cozy
Release: November 2022
Purchase Link

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.

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.

About the author
Ann Claire earned degrees in geography, which took her across the world. Now Ann lives with her geographer husband in Colorado, where the mountains beckon from their kitchen windows. When she’s not writing, you can find her hiking, gardening, herding housecats, and enjoying a good mystery, especially one by Agatha Christie. Online, you can visit Ann on Instagram @AnnClaireAuthor and Facebook @Ann Claire Mysteries or check out her website for information on all her books and pen names at novelmystery.wixsite.com/books.

All comments are welcomed.