This is a gripping thriller with a seriously creepy side. It is set in a minimalist luxury hotel in the Swiss mountains. A storm has cut off the hotel from civilization and people are getting murdered in grisly ways.
Staying at the hotel are Elin (a police officer on a sabbatical) and Will (her whiny possessive boyfriend.) Elin feels compelled to investigate the crimes and solve a mystery from her past at the same time.
The hotel used to be a sanatorium and the old history hangs over the plot like a shroud. A good read. The only criticism is that something in the epilogue directly contradicts something we have been shown. It's really annoying.

Thank you to Netgalley, Random House and Sarah Pearse for my arc of The Sanatorium in exchange for an honest review.

Published: 18th February 2021

Elin and Will are looking forward to a holiday together after a tough year. Will sees it as a chance to cement their relationship after Elin has kept him at arms length for the past 2 years, while Elin is hoping it will help her to heal after a terrible case in her job as a DS in the police force has left her with PTSD. Not to mention her mum dying after a long illness in which Elin alone had to care for her.
Now they've been invited by her brother Isaac to celebrate his engagement to Laure at a fancy Swiss hotel Le Sommet which used to be a sanatorium. But the hotel is shrouded in mystery and danger and as a freak snow storm arrives with risk of avalanche the body count starts mounting up and Elin finds herself having to use her rusty detective skills in order to survive.

I would give this book 3.5 stars overall. The creepy atmosphere was incredibly well done it was chilling, spine tingling stuff that really got me spooked and it takes a really good writer to be able to create that sort of atmosphere. Overall the book was well written, the concept was interesting and the pace moved fast meaning I finished it in one day.
It only loses 1.5 stars because there were a few loose ends that didn't ever tie up or get explored as if the author had originally planned one idea and then changed her mind but forgot to correct the earlier threads. The main character was also hard to bond with it was as if she treated the reader in the same way as she did other people, and the result was you could never get close enough to her to feel sympathy or comradeship with her.
I think that the overall premise was really good and it explored some fascinating concepts relating to the sanatorium and mental health but it never really delivered on them.
I'd definitely be interested to read more books by this author and see how she continues to develop as a writer.

Spoilers

The questions I felt went unanswered...

Why did Laure push Elin into the plunge pool?
Why did Laure and Adele fall out?
Who was the person at the end watching Elin? Is there going to be a second book it's been left kind of ambiguous

High in the Swiss Alps a new minimalist hotel opens, however, it is not without controversy, as Le Sommet sits on the footprint of what was once a rather grim sanatorium for people with tuberculosis. Local opposition runs high and there are those who would rather the hotel just didn’t exist.

Police Detective, Elin Warner and her partner, Will Riley, have been invited to the hotel to celebrate Elin’s brother’s engagement to Laure who is the assistant manger of the hotel. Emotions run high especially for Elin who is currently on extended sick leave with PTSD. When Laure goes missing, leaving no clues to her disappearance, Elin needs to draw on all her emotional, and professional, strength to try to figure out just what is going on at Le Sommet.

What then follows is a decidedly chilly story which has all the necessary elements of surprise needed for a thrilling whodunnit. The icy setting, against a snowy backdrop heightens the claustrophobic nature of the story and as Elin gets drawn deeper into the investigation, so her own insecurities start to come to the fore.

Right from the start there is an undercurrent of unease, which surrounds, not just the hotel, but also the people associated with it and when atrocious weather causes some guests and staff to be stranded at Le Sommet this creepy sense of unrest is made so much worse when a gruesome discovery is made.

The claustrophobic nature of being high in the Swiss Alps in a creepy and isolated hotel in the middle of a swirling snowstorm and with so many people staying at the hotel who have hidden agendas then you have all the right ingredients for a decidedly chilly and very atmospheric read.

The Sanatorium is a commendable debut by a talented new voice in the psychological thriller/crime fiction genre.

Who’s in the mood for a good-old murder mystery? You’re in luck. The Sanatorium plays by the rules to give us a high-octane thriller that will make you think twice about booking a trip to an isolated hotel in the mountains…

This story is guaranteed escapism, which is (I think we can all agree) very much a requirement from reading at the moment.

An exclusive hotel in the Swiss Alps provides us with our isolated setting (which gave me The Shining vibes). It used to be a tuberculosis sanatorium – artefacts from its medical days are now displayed in expensive cabinets in the hotel. As a nod to its past and also, it turns out, its present.

Elin and her boyfriend Will are invited to the hotel for her brother Issac’s engagement party. She has a strained relationship with Issac so is reluctant to go. However, she is currently on a sabbatical from her job as a police detective due to her traumatic experience during a case.

She decides a break will do her good. She was mistaken. Issac’s fiancée, Laure disappears and a hotel worker is discovered murdered in very suspicious circumstances – including being clad in a terrifying gas mask (relics from the days of the sanatorium). Just who is tying the past and present together and killing people while they’re at it?

To add to the repressive atmosphere a huge storm engulfs the hotel, causing an avalanche. The police can’t get through and time is running out so Elin has to step up and find out who the murderer is.

There was a nod to the queen of murder mystery – Agatha Christie, when Elin writes a list of clues and what she knows, which I did enjoy.

An adrenaline filled page turner, if you’re looking for a clever little murder mystery that’s an engrossing slice of escapism, pay a visit to The Sanatorium.

Disappointing. The beginning was good but as the book "dragged" on it became very tedious and I just wanted it to end. I didn't like the characters either. Sorry!
Thank you Netgalley and Random House for giving me the opportunity to give my unbiased opinion.

While the setting for this book gave me hope that I would love the story, almost everything else let it down. The story is set in a hotel high in the Swiss Alps - the hotel was an abandoned TB sanatorium, which just adds to the creepy vibe of being in a remote location where there is potential avalanche risk. However, I found the characters, especially Elin, unlikable & distant, which made it hard for me to connect with them. The reveal of the villain & their motive was also a let down - I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't that.

A decent thriller where the setting is the best part. The atmospheric, slightly claustrophobic feeling of the book was the main selling point to me and the main source of tension through the story. Amidst the snowy Swiss Alps, in a luxury resort strange things happen, people start dying and the creepy past of the hotel (it used to be an asylum) just adds another layer of goosebumps to the premise. I have to say though, while the setting was amazing, the characters I found lackluster. I couldn't really relate to them, or even find them believable which is a major sticking point for me. I have to find the characters gripping in order to really sink into a book. The mystery element I was more on board with, however the big reveal fell a little short for me. I guess, as the number of bodies grew, my expectations grew as well for some kind of grand motive on the killer's part which left me a tiny bit deflated. Overall, not a bad one but it didn't become a favourite either.

It took me a while to get into this book and I was going to give up. But I didn’t and the story picked up pace.
I was drawn in by the description of the abandoned sanatorium in the first chapter. I, like the author, also love a creepy abandoned building, and there were plenty of references throughout the book, to what happened to the place before it was turned into a hotel. This really added atmosphere.
The characters were good and I spent most of my time trying to guess who did it. I didn’t guess correctly though and the reveal came as a shock
Overall, this story captured me and drew me in, but there were places where I zoned out because the description was just too much and I was finding myself a bit lost. But a 4 star rating from me and definitely recommended

A thrilling and chilling read, for sure. I found myself gasping and eager to turn the pages to find what was coming next. Highly recommended

Elin is a police offer who is on leave from the force, following a difficult and dangerous resolution to a previous case. She and her partner Will are travelling to a new prestigious hotel in remote area of Switzerland to celebrate her brothers engagement, but she has always had a difficult relationship with this brother, following some family turmoil when they were younger. She is determined to confront her brother once and for all regarding their past, but will she get the opportunity?

The premise of this books is great, all the boxes are ticked here - a protagonist with a troubled past, both personal and professional. A remote location, lots of characters with suitably mysterious backstories, and lots of twists and turns.

The book essentially evolves into a high concept locked room mystery, with a limited number of characters trapped in the hotel by an avalanche and a severe storm, no one can leave or arrive, so the tension starts to rise.

I really enjoyed this book, I essentially read the second half of the book in one sitting as I was keen to find out how it resolved. I thought it had a good resolution and tore along at a good pace, I’d be interested in reading more books with this protagonist as I thought she was an interesting character.

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Atmospheric Suspense....
Atmospheric suspense set high in the Swiss Alps. A remote alpine hotel is the backdrop for a celebration - the hotel is certainly an attractive one and also in a stunning location. It is, however, a former sanatorium and the conversion is a recent one. Add in a storm and a group of people cut off from the outside world and the reader is given the basic ingredients for a modern, contemporary locked room mystery with a feel for the Gothic. An engaging read despite finding our protagonist Elin an entirely unconvincing investigator! A slow burn to start but overall enjoyable and escapist reading.

Written in third person present the novel centres around Elin, although hers is not the only POV throughout The Sanitorium.

I found Elin to be an extremely irritating character.
Yes she is having a hard time of it, but I grew quickly tired of her constant helplessness and refusal to even try taking action.
The whining is never ending and her relationship with Will seemed completely pointless to me. In fact I felt sorry for Will more than anything, I was fed up with Elin a few chapters in.
I'm sure I'd be more patient and forgiving in real life, but I read to escape, Elin is a vortex of depression and boredom- so much so that I almost gave up at 30% in.

The setting and the slow burning mysteries of murder and disappearance were marginally enough to keep me invested in The Sanitorium.

Unfortunately, once the initial beauty of the hotel and surroundings sinks in, the descriptors also become repetitive and start to lose their charm- This novel could do with some heavy editing in my opinion. I felt there was a lot of chaff in the wheat, is that the saying?

There's no subtlety in The Sanitorium, no room for nuance. Every character action is either explained in detail as either Elin or Adele realises for herself what's happening, if not by them imagining all the possible reasons and consequences to come. This heavy handed approach stripped away any building tension.

50% in was a turning point for me. Elin finally begins to develop, the story picks up dramatically and I was finally invested in the mysteries. So many questions I needed to answer, I was desperate to see which threads tied together and which were just red herrings.

I raced through the second half of The Sanatorium but the reveal didn't really fit the rest of the novel and the epilogue was pointless and unnecessary.

I enjoyed a third of The Sanitorium at most, definitely a middle-of-the-road book for me.

Elin and will are travelling to Switzerland to celebrate Elins brothers engagement to childhood friend Laurie. Elin and Isaac haven’t been close since their brother Sam died in a tragic accident when they were children, Elin fears that Isaac knows more about Sams death than he says. While at the hotel Laure goes missing and murders are committed, Elin a police officer on long term leave decides to investigate alongside the Swiss police who are stuck in the village due to storms and avalanches.

A good thriller of a bit confusing at first,

The opening of this book really set the scene for snowy seclusion. With Overlook hotel vibes, Le Sommet is an eerie setting with a sinister past and the atmosphere the author sets is chilling.

Ex-police officer and heroine Elin, is attending her brother's engagement party at the newly opened hotel when his fiancée goes missing. When things take a horrifying turn and a body turns up, an avalanche prevents the police from accessing the crime scene so Elin steps in. Without jurisdiction, she works under the instruction on local police. With no hope of help, it's a race against time to stop the killer as they pick off guests one-by-one.

I loved the setting of this book and the pace mostly kept me turning the pages, especially in the latter parts of the book. There was plenty to digest and overall it was an engaging read and an excellent debut.

The Sanatorium is a mystery/thriller which takes place in a remote hotel in the Swiss Alps which used to be an old sanatorium (a place where TB patients were sent to recover using natural remedies i.e. clean air). The Sanatorium follows Elin as she travels to her estranged brother's engagement party, however things take a dramatic turn when her brother's fiance disappears the morning after she has arived and soon more people end up missing and the hotel's dark secrets start to come to light when an avalanche leaves the guests stranded in the hotel with a possible killer on the loose.

The Sanatorium has a very interesting premise, and lots of promise - a remote location, a mysterious history, lots of characters with secrets, a feeling that you must know who did it because there's such a small cast. I'm not entirely sure it delivered exactly what I was expecting but I can see this being the sort of book that some people love and some people just feel a little underwhelmed by.

I found the first half of the book to be rather boring, I didn't particularly connect with our main character Elin (nor was I invested in her own personal storyline) and therefore being so in her head as she made some questionable decisions made the first half drag a little bit. Things picked up as the action began to heat up though, although the ending then felt a little rushed. Personally I think the first 50% of this book could do with being condensed and the second half lengthed a little just for the pacing to work a little better for me.

The thing that tends to make or break a mystery is of course the ending and I'd say I was relatively satisfied with this one. To me at least it didn't seem obvious at the outset but I definitely feel I could see it coming the closer to it we got. I would warn you that this book suffers from monologue from the villain syndrome and this part felt rather unrealsitic to me. I'm also not entirely sure I understand the whole motive, aspects of it absolutely, but I definitely felt that I had some questions that went unanswered.

Speaking of questions unanswered, as far as I am aware this book is a standalone but the epilogue seemed to suggest that there would be a sequel of some sort leaving us on a cliffhanger. Personally this felt really jarring especially as everything seemed so well wrapped up (although admittedly I do feel this 'twist' might explain some of the questions I still have about the main plot).

All in all The Sanatorium felt a little average, it had plenty of chances to shine and only took some of them. I really think better pacing and improved characterisation would have made this one work a little better (for the life of me I still can't find it in myself to care about Elin). This was a pretty fun read though, and I think it more or less achieved what it set out to do.

Another twist on a modern locked room mystery; hotel guests are caught in their hotel when an avalanche renders them unreachable. Only when things get a little tense do they realise that staying in a converted Sanatorium might be, in itself, a little creepy.

The perfect chiller thriller; tense, nervy, finger-pointy, and with a back bone - which so many modern locked rooms are missing.

Lovely work!

A Well Written Atmosphere filled Thriller with a gothic feel, set in Switzerland, at an ex Sanatorium now 5 star hotel. When women start to go missing and the hotel finds its self snowed in and cut off from civilisation, the main protagonist steps in to try and get to the bottom of the disappearances.

The first 150 pages I felt like the book was 5 star material but for me it slows down a bit too much and I found pretty much all of the characters quite unpleasant and unable to connect with. Having said that the mystery is good, and there is a brooding and eerie feeling that sits with you throughout.

For a debut it’s a accomplished and clever and an author to keep an eye out for

While I enjoyed the setting and the plot of this book there was something disjointed about it. I’m not sure if the writing style wasn’t quite for me. Overall however this is a good, fast paced, thriller and I had no idea who the murderer was until it was revealed. The main character has a lot of personal issues to work through and I like the fact there was some resolution of those matters however that part did sometimes feel like it was overpowering the main plot line.

This was a tough one for me. On the one hand its a very atmospheric thriller with some great description and good dramatic tension. On the other its a not so brilliantly executed mystery with one of the most inept investigators I've ever seen who spends most of the book having her job mansplained to her by her incredibly horrible brother and significant other.

An atmospheric setting, a luxury hotel high in the Swiss Alps, converted from a old building with a sinister, unsavoury past. Of course, there’s an avalanche, and everyone is trapped, and of course, there are murders. As a setup, it was fairly predictable, but even so, enjoyable. I wasn’t a great fan of the protagonist, and her inner demons were not completely fleshed out, nor her journey fully convincing. I also found people's tendencies to read the micro-expressions in others’ faces, eyes, bodies unconvincing , but maybe that’s just me—I’m never convinced that one can read emotions flitting across someone’s face, or a moment where an expression comes and goes. It’s an okay story, but I’d expected more.

(Review copy from Netgalley)