A good debut novel by Catherine Cooper = it had me wanting to read until the end but wasn't as gripping as maybe i had hoped. It is set between present day and 20 years previous. Set in the French Alps - 2 brothers go out skiing with a guide but only one comes back. Fast forward to 20 years later and we met a group of friends staying at a ski chalet in the alps - here we also meet their chalet girl Millie. The story is told from the persepectives of the various characters and homes in mainly on Ria and Hugo. We soon find out that all is not as it seems with these characters. the book does have twists but not as gripping as i would have liked.

I enjoyed this debut novel. This has lots of likeably horrid characters. I liked the different points of view the story was told from. It does suffer in comparison with Lucy Foley, whose plotting is a lot more intricate. That said, I am looking forward to Catherine Cooper's next book.

Reading “Chalet” in the middle of a British mini summer heatwave is perversely enjoyable and delightfully cool and It’s a setting we return to over two decades – the first where two brothers disappear in a bad snow storm , and only one is finally found alive and then years later a mix of characters, some perhaps familiar and others not, come together for a business holiday in an Agatha Christie setting, sharing an upmarket chalet where nothing is too much trouble. But more than business is on the menu – this time there is lurking amongst the many relationships, revenge and murder.

A great, thrilling read. Murder, suspense and intrigue this will definitely keep you hooked. Perfect for sunny lockdown days.

The Chalet by Catherine Cooper
Publisher: HarperCollins Uk
Published: 31 October 2020


Pacy, with enough twists to keep you guessing. Set over 2 timelines but easy to follow this was a very enjoyable read. This is a debut novel and I will definitely be keeping an eye open for any future books by this author.


Thanks to the author, publisher and netgalley for providing me with this advance digital copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

This is Catherine Cooper’s debut novel and a very good one it is too. I was hooked from the start. The plot is very clever with plenty of twists and turns. The characters are very well-developed, although few of them have any redeeming features. The core of the novel relates to an incident twenty years ago when two brothers going skiing, off-piste and only one comes back alive; was it simply an accident or something more sinister? The missing brother has never been found. In the present day another group come to stay at the same ski resort and in their own ways are linked to what happened in the past. The tension builds nicely as the reader begin to understand the connections between then and now.

The narrative is related by various characters and the plot moves between the present and the past. When bad weather creates an avalanche, the missing brother’s body is found and the surviving brother comes to the resort to help identify the body. That is when things begin to take a deeply sinister turn. This is a well written thriller and I hope to see more from the author.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collins for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A very good book with lots of twists. I was so gripped into the story I had no idea what was coming. Very well written and characters were easy to follow. Loved it

This book was enjoyable although I will say there were no significant twists, and it did seem quite predictable. For that reason I would mark it down to four stars but I would recommend as a easy read.

My tbr pile is (metaphorically as I mostly eread) teetering as the pile gets higher and higher so I have heroically been avoiding Netgalley's siren call and trying to make some kind of headway. But when I got an email inviting me to download The Chalet I was intrigued enough to give it a go.

Twenty years ago two young men get lost on a mountain in a blizzard thanks to a toxic combination of overinflated self assessment of their ability, sibling rivalry, indifferent instructors and bad weather. In the present day four people gather at an extremely luxurious chalet for a week of skiing and corporate entertaining, aided by a roster of staff and potential partners, when the news comes in that a young man's body has been found on a mountain. Could it be one of the missing skiers and what links someone in the chalet to the decades old case?

This is a very enjoyable read told in many different view points and several different time periods. There are plenty of red herrings, some good twists, and one of the best descriptions of a first day's skiing for an adult I have ever read which took me right back to my one and only school ski trip and that dawning realisation that the only way off a ski lift is on skis and the only way back down is also on skis... An entertaining and fun thriller.

An enjoyable read that had me hooked from the beginning. Lots of little twists that keep you guessing.

Two brothers and their girlfriends go on a skiing holiday. Adam and Will go skiing off-piste with two guides but only one of the brothers comes back. Twenty years on a group of people are staying in the same resort. Hugo and his wife Ria are there to try and persuade Simon to invest in Hugo’s travel company. Simon is accompanied by his wife Cass, their baby son Inigo and their nanny Sarah. Everything they may need while staying in the chalet is provided by chalet girl Millie, company rep Matt and chalet owner Cameron who is keen to have his luxury chalet’s promoted by Hugo. Some of those at the chalet have a connection to what happened at the resort twenty years earlier and when a body is found on the mountain everything comes to a head.

I struggle with books that are from different points of view and timelines but I think it did add to this story as it kept you guessing to the connections between characters. A really enjoyable read.

Thanks to Netgalley, Harper Collins and Catherine Cooper for the ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

Thank you so much to HarperCollins Publisher for sending me an exclusive invitation to review an e-ARC of The Chalet.

I never know it's going to be this difficult to write a thriller's review. I'm completely out of it.
To make it brief, The Chalet begins with a death announcement. Wah, that early?! Yeah.

There's two time-frame between 1998 and 2020, in a period of 22 years, narrated by various characters. It took place in called La Madière mountain, France. If you're a hard fan of Ruth Ware or Lucy Foley you can see the resemblance. It always set in a place that no doubt dangers are coming.

This is not a story of finding whodunit nor a discovery of anything mysterious, it's more toward vengeance and seeking an eye for an eye. It's how a single death can affect so many lives, the pain that comes with it, and all the suffering in silence you had to endure because you can't be honest. It's also about not knowing what really happens but you play your role in it with little information.

In my opinion, if there's a mystery this book offers, then it's not hard to guess. I feel like the story took necessarily longer than it really should be. The author shoves the excitement too early and then there's no major revelation that shocked me. I need it to have more thrill factor. I can't stop asking why the author hasn't named the unnamed yet because it's no longer a surprise. Of course, I'm eager to know but the action was to slow for me.


There's one thing that bugs me. But I get it why the victim doesn't act it out since they always being put on blame and be called, “she asked for it”. But really, no sane person wanted something bad happens to them. As a reader, we wanted to tell the victim had they taken the necessary action earlier then perhaps things not becoming this difficult. But the victim is all alone here with no support. This is the crucial issue that we need to educate society about, if not we're seeing more victims not speak out.

Shortly after reviewing One by One by Ruth Ware, a story that is set in the French Alps during a blizzard, I read The Chalet, set in the French Alps during a blizzard. Coincidence… both books have a group of people staying in a luxury chalet, and in both books people have secrets in their past.
The Chalet is Catherine Coopers’ debut and a very good one too! She uses the beautiful but dangerous Alps as a good background for the story. The main characters are very well developed and the writing style is very entertaining. I loved the details about the luxurious food and I really felt for the young female who tries to keep up with her rich friends who all learned to ski at an early age. The story evolves slowly but steady and the flashbacks work to help the reader to try and find the solution to the plot – which wasn’t too difficult but luckily also not too easy.
I will certainly put the name of this author on my ‘to follow’ list.

Thanks to Netgalley for this digital review copy.

This book is based in a ski resort and straddles between two eras. 1998 and 2020. In 1998 two brothers go on holiday, one of the brothers did not want to go but was pushed into it and decided to take his girlfriend with him for company. Adam decides they should go skiing with a guide on a day when the weather was not good and wanted to go off piste. The guide was not sure whether this was a good idea but one of the brothers said that they can both ski very well but it turns out that is not the case. The guide becomes irritated with the brothers and loses interest but stays close by. An accident happens and the brothers disappear on the slopes and although people look for them only one is found. The story then goes to 2020 when the lost brother’s body is found and how it intertwines with the 1998 era. The book goes backwards and forwards through the two eras well and not too complicated which can sometimes be the case in books. In comes other characters and you do not know the connection straight away but it all comes together and is a great read. I thought one character was the child from the 1998 part of the book but I got that completely wrong. Well done Catherine Cooper for keeping up the suspense until the end.

Thoroughly enjoyable!
This book kept me engaged and intrigued as I did not know where the story was going. The characters were well drawn and believable and most had a secret.
There was a twist which I absolutely did not see coming and once I had finished the book I had to go back to the beginning to check things out.
A recommended read that just flows.
Thanks to Netgalley for an advance copy for an honest review.

I enjoyed this little revenge thriller. Having spent a week in a similar chalet many moons ago it was very easy to imagine the claustrophobic atmosphere and I can certainly relate to crying when skiing for the first time!

I absolutely loved this book, I couldn't put it down. This is the author's debut novel, what a fantastic debut! I can not wait for her next book!
Two brothers and their girlfriends go on a skiing holiday, but one of them ends up dead. Then over 20 years later there are people staying at the same resort, there for business we start to realise there are hidden secrets between the group.
The story goes between the two different timelines and also different key characters. It is very easy to follow and adds in so much suspense that you just want to keep on reading and not stop! I found it such an interesting read because it kept you engaged with the characters and the different timelines. The book really sets the scene well and it feels like you are actually there, it is very well written.
The story keeps you guessing along the way about how the people in the present timeline are connected and who has what secret. It doesn't give too much away at the beginning, which I loved as it really made you think.
I am really looking forward to Catherine Cooper's next book. Her writing style is one I definitely don't want to miss out on.

Absolutely superb page turner of a book, although it was relatively short, but this meant I got to finish it it one day. Totally gripping from start to finish, excellent read, thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

A rather brilliant tale that kept me guessing almost to the end. Not a whodunnit but a very well thought out and executed story. I thought I had guessed the who but when I realised the what I was pleasantly surprised. The ending was a cracker.

French alps 1998; two brothers are holidaying with their respective girlfriends when tragedy strikes one of them .
20 years later two couples are staying in a luxury chalet at the same resort when a body is discovered. It appears that there is a connection and someone is out for revenge.
I raced through this thriller, loved it and wanted more. Highly recommend giving it a go.