This book has a creepy feel to it, infact i lost two nights sleep thinking about it.

The story is set in an abandoned Sanatorium which has recently been turned into a luxury hotel. When a storm cuts off all access to the hotel leaving staff and some visitors trapped, they find a staff member murdered and another one missing. The police can't reach them so its up to Laure, an off duty Detective to help find the killer amongst them.

Sarah Pearse managed to create the creepy, claustrophobic atmosphere this book needed. When you think you have worked out who the killer is, theres a twist and then another. I can't help but think this is one of those books that could easily be made into a movie (which I would probably be too scared to watch). I would say this is a great story for curling up in front of the fire with.

Thank you to @netgalley, the publishers and the author for the ARC.

I thought the premise of this book was very good. A police officer (Elin) on extended sick leave goes to see her almost estranged brother in a fancy new hotel in the Swiss Alps. She's there to celebrate his engagement with Laure an erstwhile friend of hers. But she has a big issue that she wants to get to the bottom of: she believes he is responsible for the death of their brother.

Right away we are in a suspenseful situation. Laure disappears and Elin feels a responsibility to look for and find her. The Swiss police can't come as they're snowed in. It's all very claustrophobic and then someone else disappears.

I thought i would love this but in fact I found it very unappealing and didn't like it at all.. It took me over a month to read it as I rarely found I wanted to read on so I'd turn to another book instead. Elin is an annoying protagonist. If you were watching this on TV you'd be shouting at the screen 'No, don't go there. Don't do that.' It was all too unlikely and unbelievable for me. It doesn't help that the characters show no development whatsoever and are all a bit flat. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Very slow read. I kept waiting for it to pick up and it didn't. The parts with the captives and the masked captor were very tense but were few and far between.

I must admit I struggled a little to get into this book. That being said once I was about 30% in the pace picked up (along with the storm!) and kept doing so throughout the rest of the book. Just when I thought I knew who the person behind the mask was, I was proved wrong. The reveal when it did come was a complete surprise to me.

Elin and her boyfriend, Will have arrived at an hotel in Switzerland, high up in the mountains to celebrate the engagement of her estranged brother Isaac and his fiancé. The hotel is amazing but when her brother’s fiancé mysteriously disappears, Elin cannot help playing detective (a job she is on a sabbatical from).

I thought this was a good story with plenty of twists and turns and I would recommend it to others. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced read copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

I found this debut novel by Sarah Pearse to be atmospheric and gripping from the word go.
It is set in the claustrophobic nightmare world of a building formerly a sanatorium in the French Alps now remodelled as a luxury hotel, but it is a building which holds onto its ghosts and secrets.
The heroine, Elin, is a detective on sick leave, and when an avalanche traps her and the other guests, she is forced to act as investigator when a character is brutally murdered.
In the process, she is forced to confront her own demons.
The novel's strength is in its descriptive powers and its creation of a forbidding and terrifying world. The plot, however, I did feel was a little clunky in places, in its twists and turns.
But nonetheless a great book with suggestions at the end that there may be a sequel.

From the beginning of this thriller, when literary protagonist Elin Warner and her boyfriend Will make their way to the isolated hotel Le Sommet in the Swiss Alps, it becomes clear that this mystery will play out against a claustrophobic, threatening environment. Although the occasion for Elin’s stay in this boutique hotel is a happy one – to celebrate her brother Isaac’s engagement - tensions soon arise between the visitors who are also at risk of entrapment by a snowstorm.
In Elin, Pearse reprises the currently popular theme of an anxious, vulnerable literary protagonist still trying to work through previous traumas that affect her and her brother. She becomes more interesting, and shows a much stronger side to her character, when she assumes responsibility for the disappearance of another guest and slips into ‘investigative mode’, although she is officially on leave from her police officer role. The second half of the book is infinitely stronger and faster-paced, although I dispute there is any need for some of the extended crime descriptions inserted into the narrative, which only serve to detract from the psychological tension that otherwise drives the book.
I am grateful to the publishers and to NetGalley for letting me have an ARC in exchange for this honest and unbiased review.

I love a creepy thriller and I was drawn to this from ready the description. My grandad was a TB patient in a sanitorium when my Mum was a little girl, but luckily he didn't have the same experiences as the characters in the book! Fans of Lucy Foley will love this book as it draws on the same mysterious, whodunnit style with lots of twists and turns. I am intrigued to see how the story develops after the epilogue suggests that not all loose ends have been tied up!

Really enjoyed this one, very atmospheric setting which added to the mystery, creepiness and general intrigue of this story. One underlying plot Line was fairly obvious, but the rest were just right, with story elements dripped in gradually. Conclusions was satisfying and liked the little twist. Would read from this author again,

An atmospheric and thrilling debut novel, a strong storyline and great visual writing meant I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
An easy 4 stars and I look forward to more work from this author.

Elin has the mystery of what happened to her brother Sam who died when she was younger. She reconnects with her other brother Isaac in a hotel in Switzerland. Only the hotel used to be a sanitorium and suddenly two women go missing. An interesting read but I found myself losing interest near the end and wished the reveal of the killer would have happened sooner. The link with her brother Sam didn't really go anywhere for me either. A compelling read nevertheless. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book.

I have mixed views about this book. It was really claustrophobic and the author captured that well. In parts I really liked the story. It was spooky and horrible but the main character got on my nerves a bit. She seemed to be jumping into things a lot without thinking and coming to very slow realisations.

Lots of twists and very the shinning in places but I thought the end flip flopped a bit too much.

Not a bad read by far. Just not sure it was for me.

Read through netgalley - thank you!

I absolutely loved this book, it was gripping from start to finish. The description of the alps and the weather was so good, I felt cold just reading it! It left a little bit of a question about one aspect of the story so I really hope there is going to be a sequel, fingers crossed. I definitely recommend this book.


My thanks to Bantam Press and Netgalley for my free copy in exchange for an honest review.

At the turn of the 20th Century, Crans Montana in the Valais Canton was established as a mountain retreat. The Hotel du Parc (now the Grand Hôtel du Parc) opened its doors under the auspices of a doctor in Geneva who saw the benefits of mountain air in treating patients. Ideal indeed for treating patients with TB, which - before the advent of antibiotics - was hugely contagious. Crans Montana went on to become known as the Pearl of the Alps.

Having read Thomas Mann's "The Magic Mountain", which is set in a fictional sanatorium, modelled on one in Davos, I am pondering why more novels aren't set in these foreboding and rather grim sanatoria, which were the go-to retreats for ailing patients.

Crans Montana is therefore an ideal setting for The Sanatorium. The book opens as Elin is trundling up in the cable car from Sion to the resort with her boyfriend Will. They are going to be residing at the very posh hotel Le Sommet to celebrate her brother Isaac's engagement to Laure. Laure works at Le Sommet with sibling duo Cécile and Lucas who run this luxurious retreat. Set at 2,200M it is surrounded by the oftentimes harsh mountain terrain.

And there they are. Ensconced in luxury, in an old sanatorium that has had a tremendous if rather stark makeover. Before the conversion commenced, there were protests and bad press, and family friend Daniel, who masterminded the design, was found dead and in rather gruesome circumstances. The taint of something unsavoury hangs over this historic building.

Elin is recovering from her suspension as a detective, she made an ill-judged intervention and now she is here to bond with her brother. As the weather comes in, the hotel becomes cut off. An evacuation is in order but only a few guests make it out of the hotel to a safer location - a small proportion of the guests remain holed up, including of course Elin and her boyfriend Will and hotel staff members. Another murder, then another, all with gruesome aspects (the descriptions of masks and surgical implements associated with the killings didn't actually conjure up images for me, in contrast to the claustrophobic setting that is so well painted). There is no help from the police down in the valley in Sion, they simply cannot get to the hotel, neither by road, which is blocked by a solidified avalanche, nor by helicopter due to high winds. Elin is on her metal, using her police investigative skills and racing against time to seek out the murderer who, of course, is one of them.

What the author does so well is render a taut, creeping tension, interspersed with gruesome discoveries. The sanatorium and its original facilities have been incorporated into the modern scheme (ill-advisedly, as one might have guessed) and there are still locked rooms full of equipment and old dossiers. She paints a stark palette of weather and setting, the mountains looming in a rather foreboding way, the snow falling and packing against the windows and an eerie sense of anticipation...it's all very palpable and real.

I think what didn't overly convince me was the trajectory of the narrative as it came to the conclusion. There is just too much going on and it just felt that there wasn't quite a clear end plan, it seemed to tack, albeit tensely, towards the denouement. This was in contrast to the well laid out progression in the main part of the novel. And of course, there are  revelations galore.

The finalé didn't detract too much from the intensity of the story -  it is gripping and immersive and one to watch in 2021.

The Sanatorium has plenty of twists and turns and red herrings to satisfy the most ardent psychological book fan. The sanitorium itself is a new luxury hotel on the site of where a Swiss sanitorium once stood. The sense of isolation and atmosphere is well observed, especially during the heavy snowstorms experienced during the passage of the story.

Elin, a police inspector on leave from her job, visits the new hotel to celebrate her brother Isaac's engagement to Laure and to mend bridges with him. Things have been strained between them since their younger brother Sam, died in an accident.

Shortly after Elin's arrival with her boyfriend, Will, a body is discovered buried near the hotel and Laure disappears. Then another body is found and the police are unable to investigate due to the weather conditions. So who is the murderer and what is the motive?

Certainly a gripping story but I could make no sense of the epilogue. Many thanks to NetGalley and Bantam Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Well this book did keep me gripped and I enjoyed coming back to it, so I could work out the mystery. It is an atmospheric thriller set in the Swiss Alps. This book keeps you engaged with identifying a handful of suspects, who could possibly be committing murders in a remote hotel. There are twists and turns but it is not complicated to follow. This old hotel was once a sanatorium and this gives the book a sinister edge.
I enjoyed this book and was pleased that for me I was not too scared. I wont be holidaying in a remote Swiss hotel in the middle of a sandstorm but I will recommend the book.

Loved this eerie, atmospheric thriller set in the Swiss mountains. This unique setting of omnipresent, suffocating snow gives the impression of creeping, pervasive fear even without the foreboding presence of the former sanatorium and its unsettling secrets . There’s a parallel story of the dynamics of two sets of siblings as well as a unhealed family tragedy. I suspected everyone and my sympathies were with Elin caught up in a very personal journey as she raced against time to stop the killer.

The Sanatorium is a chilling and highly claustrophobic debut novel....

Set in the high Alps of Switzerland in an old hospital used many years ago for the Tuberculosis outbreak, the Sanatorium itself also sits in a valley at risk to avalanches in high snowfall. A talented young architect has reinvented it into a stylish ultra-modern hotel, albeit under a lots of objection from locals who believe it shouldn’t have been allowed. However it comes to fruition and is highly regarded as a luxury hotel by guests and fellow architects.

During a storm it’s gets cut off from the world, leaving a handful of guests and staff behind. Following a missing member of staff, a guest who’s a police officer on extended leave gets the job of having to try and work out what’s going on. Alone, without support from the local police. She has her own troubles, and is linked to a missing woman. As the story unfolds, more people are missing and found mutilated. It’s clear the killer is one of them. Who is next, and what is their motive?

It’s darkly atmospheric, and a new way of looking at the age old ‘hotel in the forest with guests who get killed one-by-one’ tale.

I would like the cover to represent the modern hotel the book depicts (at the time of reading it’s a typical large alpine hotel type, and not modern, stylish and glassy at all). Also the epilogue lets it down slightly annoyingly, and spoiled it for me. It’s was all a little pointless and unnecessary - other than perhaps to suggest at a sequel using the police officer as a central character. I didn’t connect with her enough to persue this however, and generally I prefer standalone books rather than series.

But aside from this, it’s a recommended read, especially for anyone with a love for the mountains. As we can’t travel at the moment mid-pandemic, it’s great to read books set overseas!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really wanted to like this book. I persevered until the end hoping for some redemption, but unfortunately it didn’t come. It was a shame because the book had all the right pieces, but somehow the puzzle just didn’t fit. The characters felt flat to me, I didn’t empathise with them at all and I was unfortunately left feeling dissatisfied. I did however love the descriptions of the hotel and its setting. If it wasn’t so full of bad weather and death I’d love to stay there!

A mountain top hotel built in an avalanche zone, one road in and out, an avalanche happens, staff and guests are stuck in the hotel and people start to die. Oh, and by the way the hotel was previously a sanatorium.

Its got all the key elements for suuuchhh good thriller and it hits the mark in 9/10 of them. I love the twists and the linking up of events. While reading the backstory just seemed to drone on and on and on until it didnt and you get the AH HAAA moment and I love that.

The epilogue at the end sort of seems pointless but maybe I've completely missed the point with that last page.

Wow. I loved this book. It was creepy and atmospheric and nuanced and utterly compelling. I couldn’t stop turning the pages. I loved the backdrop of the cold and creepy Swiss Alps during an avalanche. I also loved the dark, spooky and unnerving choice of an on old Sanatorium turned luxury hotel as the setting for this thriller.

The main protagonist Elin, a British police officer on a period of leave due to personal circumstances relating to a case she was involved in the previous year, is invited to the luxury hotel for the weekend with her partner Will to celebrate her brother Isaac’s engagement to Laure. When Laure who works at the hotel goes missing days after Elin arrives and the body of a member of staff is discovered, Elin is forced to investigate the murder mystery in the hotel and the mysteries that plague her own personal life too.

I loved the isolated close circle mystery element of this novel. All the characters trapped in the hotel during a terrible winter storm and avalanche and the police can’t get to them. I also enjoyed how the Sanatorium because like an additional character in the plot, enhancing the bone chilling components of the novel. This book is full of secrets from the past being brought to the surface. Full of twists and turns. It’s impressively plotted and paced. I was completely on board with the story from the first page.

The characters were intriguing and I found the ending left me on tender hooks. This is a new author that people should watch out for.

This was one of the best thrillers I have read in a long time. And perfect for this time of year. A cold creepy story to curl up with during the cold winter nights. I can’t wait to see what this author writes next!

Thanks to Penguin Books UK, the author and Netgalley for a review copy in exchange for an honest review.