Author: Ann Claire
Genre: Mystery
Paperback; Digital Book (Audiobook Available)
ISBN #: 9780593496343
Bantam Publishing
336 Pages
$17.00; $11.99 Amazon
November 1, 2022
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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. Perches 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.
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Meg and Ellie Christie run their family's bookstore in a small hamlet in Colorado. They have a steady stream of local customers and tourists, and they're happy with what they do. While having a book club discussion one morning, a man wanders in and looks around, insisting that he's there to meet someone named "Cece". After they finally get him to leave, they don't expect to see the man later on, entering a gondola. Since he left something at the bookstore, they want to return it to him. But when they get to the bottom, it's discovered he has been murdered, and now they wonder who he is -- there was no identification on him at all.
They also can't locate one of their employees, Ms. Ridge. Worried about her, they discover no one saw her use the gondola down to town, and they hope she's alright. But after several days, they file a missing persons report, and with the help of a local reporter named Piper, they get the word out. Ellie knows something just doesn't feel right, with the death and Ms. Ridge's disappearance, but she can't really put her finger on it. Then a friend she knew from school, Syd Zeller, asks for her help when the police suspect his father of the murder. Now Ellie's up to her ears in mysteries, and not the kind in books...
This is the first book in a new series, and I must say that I enjoyed it immensely. Ms. Claire has a way with words, and her descriptions of the area surrounding the bookstore is real enough that I could picture it in my mind easily. The mountains, the snow, the cold; all is visible in her words.
She writes a good mystery with a good plot, and the characters are real enough, but hopefully will be fleshed out more in the next book. The only character I didn't care for was Piper -- she was a little too pushy and abrasive; I would have liked her more if she had backed off somewhat. But perhaps in the next book she'll relax a little.
The mystery was done so well that I had not even suspected the murderer; and that is rare for me. The ending was indeed fun and ingenious; and I hope this talented author brings us another book to delve into quickly. Highly recommended.
I received an advance copy from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.
More on Ann Claire's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/c/ann-claire/
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