Dead and Gondola

Informationen zum Autor Ann Claire earned degrees in geography, which took her across the world. Now Claire 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. Klappentext "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"--Publisher marketing. Leseprobe Chapter 1 A Perfect Day for Murder I swung open the heavy oak door and blinked at the figure taking shape in the blizzard. What a perfect day for murder! The woman strode into the Book Chalet, glowing like a summer sunbeam and a vision from the past. Feathers trembled atop her flapper-­style beret. Pretty pin curls framed her face. Snowflakes swarmed at her sides. I gaped, not at the greeting­that was perfectly appropriate­but at its giver. Morgan Marin. The Morgan Marin, Hollywood legend known even to book-­dwellers like me. Movies were nice, but they hadn't rendered me tongue-­tied. Morgan had reportedly retired (once again) from acting. In its place, she'd turned her superstar dazzle to my beloved medium: books. Her online reading club, Shelf Indulgence, attracted tens of thousands of devoted bibliophiles, myself among them. I'd been dying to meet her. And here she stood, in the lobby of my family's bookshop in little Last Word, Colorado. Morgan stomped faux-­fur boots so plush they should have been hibernating. You must be Ellie. She beamed at me. The missing Christie, returned to the roost. I basked in her glow, then remembered my manners and the door, still gaping as wide as my mouth. I switched to a giddy grin and shoved the door shut against suicidal snowflakes. Cowbells dangling from the door latch clonked, buying me time to formulate a sparkling reply. Yes, I said. Hardly scintillating. That's me! I added. It's an honor to meet you, Ms. Marin. I cringed. I'd gone too gushy. According to my grandmother, Morgan Marin wished to be treated like any other small-­town neighbor. Essentially, she was. Unlike many of the vacation-­mansion set who jetted in for weekend getaways in our remote mountain valley, Morgan had settled in Last Word permanently. Morgan brushed snow from a long emerald coat cut like a cloak. Please, call me Morgan, and the honor is mine. Your darling grandmother told me all about you. Traveling the world from Torquay to Tokyo on literary jobs? A Christie giving tours of Agatha Christie's hometown? I bit back my usual disclaimer. If Morgan had chatted with Gram, then she truly would know all about me. My resume, my favorite books, those wince-­worthy cute grandkid tales grandmothers love to overshare. Morgan would also know that, sadly, we Last Word Christies had yet to uncover a genealogical link to our favorite mystery author. That didn't stop us from loving Dame Agatha like family. You've returned to run the Chalet with your brilliant sister? Morgan patted her miraculously immaculate curls and hat feathers. The era of the Christie sisters, how grand! My cheeks flared. It's my dream job, I said. Trite but oh so true. I'd had some great gigs since leaving home straight after high school. Like managing a beachside bookshop on a South Pacific resort island and leading tours of Aga...

Autorentext

Ann Claire earned degrees in geography, which took her across the world. Now Claire 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.

Klappentext

"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"--Publisher marketing.

Zusammenfassung
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.