I was looking forward to this book, which sounds like an excellent murder mystery. I loved the setting; a former sanatorium set in the mountains and a cast of characters shut in by an avalanche. Sort of locked door mystery as to whodunnit. Although it’s well written and there are some twists in the plot, somehow I just didn’t get excited by the story or any of the characters. It falls a little flat and there are instances where it’s no longer plausible. The former detective solving it alone is a little preposterous and it didn’t work for me.

That aside, I’m not sure how many stars to give it. I’m going for 3. It’s a story with potential and I really enjoyed the setting but it didn’t keep me gripped.

My thanks to the publisher for a review copy via Netgalley.

This story is set high in the Swiss mountains, where a former sanatorium has recently been converted to a luxury hotel.

Elin and her boyfriend have been invited there to celebrate Elin’s brother’s engagement. Elin and her brother have a strained relationship after a childhood incident 20 years before, where their youngest brother died.
This is still troubling Elin and she’s not got over it at all.

The hotel is very sinister and the extremely remote location adds to this. When a figure is seen with a creepy mask on and then people start going missing, the hotel becomes even more scary.

I didn’t really like many of the characters in this book, most of them felt very two dimensional and I couldn’t get a sense of them at all.

Initially, I liked the book and when everyone was trapped in the hotel it reminded me a bit of a cross between The Shining and an Agatha Christie.

Unfortunately, the book petered out about halfway through for me.
I’d guessed one of the suspects quite early on, so when that was revealed it wasn’t a surprise to me.
The suspense and tension totally fizzled out and I was annoyed by how hopeless Elin was. She was a detective but took time off after a case left her traumatised. Events at the hotel mean she’s the only one able to investigate the goings on.
She seems to totally forget the local police exist, after being in regular contact with them to start with. She goes rogue and attempts to get to the bottom of what’s going on, even though she has no jurisdiction in Switzerland.
She says that it’s so important not to jump to conclusions and make assumptions, yet that’s all she seems to do and she makes mistake after mistake. It’s amazing she caught anyone.

At quite a few parts I was rolling my eyes and thinking ‘really?’ It was a bit unrealistic for me in places. Yes, the building was large, but no one else noticing quite a loud commotion seems unlikely.

Elin was still hung up on events from 20 years previously and seems totally incapable of handling anything. I’m not sure how she was ever a police officer.

I found the ending quite odd. It was like the author decided to shoe horn in some more ‘mystery’ and it didn’t really work for me.

This book started off so well but sadly didn’t do it for me which is a real shame.

2.5 stars.

Thanks to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for a copy for review.

An atmospheric, fast paced, tense thriller. There were times when i couldn't turn the page. I could feel the cold, see the mountains & snowy landscape. However, despite a good opening, there was a feeling that the author was unsure which facts to include & which direction to go . The main character made some questionable decisions but overall a good debut and would read a sequel.

This was definitely a five star read from me. It was such a thrilling mystery and kept me gripped throughout.

'The Sanatorium' is a creepy thriller set in a hotel that used to be a hospital. I really loved the stark difference between the hotel where the story takes place and the dark sanatorium from the past. The scenes are so vividly painted I could imagine being there. There was a bit too much telling instead of showing and I wasn't keen on the main character. Other characters were very interesting though and altogether this is a creepy book to enjoy over a weekend.

The Sanatorium is a rare mystery/thriller that keeps the reader guessing all the way through. And even when we think we know, we have a final twist waiting for us at the end.

Elin is staying at a mountainside hotel - Le Sommet - with her boyfriend Will. They are there to celebrate her brother's engagement. But Elin has a strained relationship with her brother Isaac, who she blames for their younger brother Sam's fatal accident as children.

An avalanche sees them cut off, and when two women go missing, Elin uses her detective skills to try to solve the crime. There are so many heart-racing moments and I was fully engaged with the story. Complex strands are gradually weaved together to reveal the who and the why. Which, without giving away anything, are all linked to the dark secrets of the hotel, which was once a sanatorium.

A really intricate and complex story that draws you in from the very beginning, and keeps you guessing all the way to the end. I thought it was just brilliant.

A great thriller. Previously a mental hospital on the side of a mountain in Switzerland, the same building is now opening as a 5 star hotel. Elin is invited to celebrate the engagement of her brother Isaac to Laure, who is employed there in a senior position.
There are things in Elin’s past as a detective that haunt her as well as the death of her young brother when her and Isaac were looking after him at the beach. Events take over in Switzerland as two people go missing. There seems to be a connection between the old mental hospital and the disappearances. Elin needs to solve the case as the police are snowed out by the recent avalanche. Very dramatic with lots of twists and turns.
I found the ending a bit rushed but overall I liked it.

The setting for this book – a remote mountain hotel in a building that was once a sanatorium - is powerful and beautifully described, but I found this one hard to get into. I couldn't really engage with any of the characters and in the end there were just too many elements. The main character had not one but two traumatic back stories, on of which didn't really seem to add much; the two main male characters in her life (her partner and her brother) were both jarringly controlling in a way that was never really resolved or commented on; and the motive for the murders didn't really make sense. I think there were maybe too many ideas competing for prominence. The history of the sanatorium itself would have made a chilling standalone novel, but here it gets lost in a bit of a muddled murder mystery. I can see from other reviews that a lot of other readers have really enjoyed this, though, so maybe I just didn't engage with the characters enough to get properly into it.

The Sanatorium has been converted into a hotel, there is a serious weather front approaching and the newly commissioned hotel is at risk of being cut off so it is necessary to start evacuating the guests and staff.
People associated with the hotel have already disappeared and before the evacuation can be completed a body turns up. One of the guests is a British police officer on sabbatical. This is a book for fans of Agatha Christie and locked room mysteries, and does enough to make you think twice before staying in a converted hospital in the Swiss Alps.

I found this to be a creepy and unsettling read which I enjoyed.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

Sarah Pearse’s debut novel “The Sanatorium” will be one of 2021’s most unsettling reads. Steeped in chilling atmosphere, spine-tingling tension and heart-racing action, this genuinely terrifying thriller is not to be missed.

When troubled Detective Elin Warner and her boyfriend Will travel to the luxury resort of Le Sommet - a converted sanitarium - they think it’s to celebrate the engagement of her brother Issac and his fiancé Laure. But when Laure goes missing and the body of another woman is discovered during a torrential storm and avalanche, Elin discovers she will need to face all of her past demons to discover the truth and prevent any more deaths.

“The Sanatorium” is a complex and multi-layered mystery that immediately sucked me in. From the unnerving opening sequence right to the thrilling climax, I was completely gripped. Pearse creates a vivid sense of place from the outset, where the reader can literally feel every biting gust of icy wind. This helps to generate much of the tension, which makes some of the darker, scarier scenes all the more terrifying. There are some brilliantly horrifying parts to the narrative that I would not want to read with the light off! It is so refreshing to read a thriller that is genuinely scary and sends shivers down the spine!

Although there is no doubt that Pearse’s novel deserves a lot of accolade for being a well constructed and powerful chiller, what I found made it such an engaging and memorable read is the fact that it is also so much more than this. “The Sanatorium” is as much about frayed relationships and the tortured, broken characters as it is murder. The human aspect of the plot is perfectly developed and Pearse’s real strength as a writer is her ability to create deep, flawed and realistic characters. I very much enjoyed being privy to Elin’s journey throughout the narrative. It was so interesting to see how she developed from sad and weakened woman, hounded by broken memories of a tragic past and a recent traumatic event, to a sharp, determined, confident woman who has managed to find restoration in her experiences at Le Sommet. Pearse is also fantastic at creating multiple angles within the plot and I found that there was lots to mull over whilst I read. I formed many different theories as the narrative progressed, but thankfully the shock twists and ultimate reveals floored me - I did not see them coming at all! I really enjoyed the pace of the book, which was interlaced with a pitch perfect blend of quiet human drama and exciting, suspenseful action sequences. Pearse seamlessly shifts between scenes exploring the deeply important themes to high-octane action or suspense sequences and I read with my heart in my throat for much of the narrative - which was exactly what I wanted from this novel!

“The Sanatorium” is a stand-out debut and a must read for thriller fans. I can’t wait to see what comes next from Pearse, because this author has got talent!

This was an interesting book with an amazing setting and a creepy plot. But I didn’t enjoy it. I didn’t feel the tension of the characters, I didn’t feel clear on the suspects and felt nothing for the end villain. And I also didn’t get the epilogue - what was the point?

At an isolated hotel high in the Swiss Alps, cut off by bad weather and avalanches, a woman is murdered in a bizarre manner and another woman is missing. With the police unable to get to the hotel, guest Elin Warner, a detective currently on extended leave from the British police, has no choice but to start the investigation and liase with Swiss Police.

Elin and her boyfriend Will have arrived at the newly opened hotel to celebrate the engagement of her estranged brother Isaac to Laure, an old childhood friend, now an assistant manager at the hotel. Originally a TB sanatorium before the advent of antibiotics, the building has been converted into a fashionable hotel by architects Lucas Caron and Daniel Lemaitre. Daniel disappeared mysteriously before the renovations started but the building went ahead and is under the management of Lucas and his sister Cécile. In keeping with the original use of the building, Lucas has made a feature of some of the medical devices used for treating the patients in exhibits around the hotel.

Sarah Pearse has utilised the isolated location and harsh weather to develop a very suspenseful and atmospheric murder mystery. The description of the murderer is indeed the stuff of nightmares, as is the strange mutilation of the victims. Elin's leave is due to PTSD suffered after her last case went wrong but she is also mourning the death of her mother who she nursed at home. Her unresolved grief at the death of her younger brother during childhood has also resurfaced now that she's meeting Isaac and Laure again. She’s really not in a good place, suffering from panic attacks and initially terrified at being the only detective on site. As the case progresses, she grows in confidence and can't help but take control, but she also makes decisions that put herself and others at risk, begging the question of whether she should ho back to policing. She’s a difficult character to connect with and her relationship with Will seems tenuous. Although he seems very patient and understanding he can’t seem to understand why she is not coping well. For me, the concentration on Elin’s insecurity and neuroses tended to overshadow the plot and the other characters. I was also not entirely convinced by the revelation of what the killer’s motives were and felt the ending could have been stronger. Nevertheless, this was a good debut with a very creepy isolated, location and suspenseful plot.

The ghosts of the past cast hideously long shadows as, despite protests and disruption from the locals, Lucas and Cecile try to turn a local resort for those trying to recover from tuberculosis in the early part of the twentieth century, into a chic, minimalist hotel/spa resort.

Elin is on extended sabbatical from her role as a detective after a case went hideously wrong with her fiance Will. They aren't too keen though but don't really have a choice as they are visiting her estranged brother,Isaac, and best friend,Laure, who are getting married, in a remote Swiss hotel.
It soon turns into a busmans holiday for Elin after the discovery of a body in a pool, the thawed remains of another and the prospect of an approaching storm which leaves the remaining visitors, staff and owners trapped. And then someone attempts to drown Elin. As the only police contact within the hotel, the Swiss police ask her to be their eyes and ears on the ground until they can get there
Elin has no choice and the decision about whether to return to work is a moot one, with Will knowing she shouldn't.
An absolutely riveting read that I was absolutely glued to for days. The setting the plot and the characters all on point! I might as well have been there with Elin. A debut novel that puts some experienced, rather famous authors to shame.

Sadly this novel didn't work for me, mostly due to the main character: Elin. She was rather self centered and insecure. Too cold and prone to jumping to conclusions. Also unprofessional: she was suppose to be supporting the police yet she was spilling the beans to anyway willing to hear her out. Plus I've managed to identify the culprit way before she did... I guess it was her jumping to conclusions instead of thinking things through.

Despite reading this in a frenzy, I was somewhat bored because many of the elements are just recycled ideas and because, as I've said above, I really couldn't warm up to Elin so consequently I couldn't really invest in her story ....

Many thanks the opportunity :)

Let just that I feel little let down with this book.
I just couldn't wait to read it. The cover and synopsis sounded soooo scary and creepy.
And I just wanted something like that... But I just couldn't really connect to the characters...
Only 3 stars...

Tense atmospheric thriller. Enjoyed the book and the setting. Would look out for other books by this author.

My thanks to Random House U.K. Transworld Publishers/Bantam for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘The Sanatorium’ by Sarah Pearse in exchange for an honest review. This debut thriller has been highly anticipated and has just been announced as the February selection for Reese Witherspoon’s popular online book club.

Elin Warner has been on leave from her job as a police detective and is uncertain if she wants to return. Meanwhile, her estranged brother, Isaac, has invited Elin and her partner, Will, to celebrate his recent engagement at an isolated luxury hotel, high up in the Swiss Alps.

Although the hotel is beautiful something about it is making Elin nervous. It turns out that the hotel was recently converted from an abandoned sanatorium. A few unsettling events occur and following a storm warning, the hotel guests are advised to evacuate.

Yet before the evacuation is complete, Isaac’s fiancée, Laure, vanishes without a trace. The storm prevents the police from attending and the remaining guests start to panic. Encouraged by the local police to investigate in their absence, Elin dusts off her detective skills. Yet unknown to all, another woman has already been attacked by a figure in a sinister mask. In a mystery like this, I am always wary of spoilers, so won’t say more.

I always enjoy mystery-thrillers set in locations that serve as characters in their own right. Here the former sanatorium with its memories and secrets proved very atmospheric. In addition, the author provides background information within the narrative about the historical treatments for tuberculosis, including the sanatorium cure.

Elin’s uncertainty about returning to work and the reasons for her estrangement from her brother are also explored along the way. She certainly proved to be a headstrong character and more than once I found myself either giving her encouragement or yelling out warnings as Elin demonstrated that she clearly had never watched a horror movie in her life. These responses indicate that I was invested in Elin as a character, even when I wanted to enter the story and give her a shake.

Overall, this proved a dark, unsettling, and claustrophobic crime thriller with plenty of twists. I will be looking forward to news of Sarah Pearse’s future projects that given the intriguing Epilogue may include further challenges for Elin Warner.

What can I say, this book had it all. A fabulous setting, tense atmosphere, a murderer on the loose, and the most amazing twists. The author has a command of the written word that I found myself envying as I read each page. The perfect descriptions made the setting of the Sanatorium and its snowy backdrop come to life.

The story centres around Elin, a UK detective on leave from her job, who visits the Hotel Le Sommet (a former Sanatorium for TB sufferers) located high in the Alps. She's there at the invitation of her estranged brother Issac who is celebrating his engagement. The history between Issac and Elin is played out as the story progresses and Elin's distrust of him sets the scene brilliantly. Having a snowstorm that isolates all the hotel guests and staff and a murderer on the premises really helped to intensify the plot and the eerie descriptions of the sanatorium helped to create a sinister feel.

The action kicks off with Issac's fiancee Laure going missing and as the storm cuts them off and Laure still hasn't resurfaced, Elin's unease grows. Add another body to the mix and the fact that the police can't get to them, and Elin is left to uncover the dark and sinister secrets the sanatorium holds as well as the identity of the killer.

This book has so many layers and plot lines and every time I thought I had it figured out something else happened to knock me off track. As the plot unfolded and secrets were revealed I was very surprised and satisfied with the conclusion.

This chilling debut is a must read for fans of atmospheric psychological thrillers and it is one that will stay with me for quite some time. I hope Elin's story will continue in future books as I found her to be an excellent character.

This story unfortunately just didn't work for me and it really should have. It's an atmospheric, claustrophobic whodunnit but for me it was just too unbelievable with a very underwhelming final reveal. I really wanted to enjoy this book but I didn't.