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 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)

I had high hopes for this one. The setting in the Swiss Alps sounded atmospheric. And an old sanatorium turned into a luxury hotel promised to be creepy. A snow storm which keeps a small number of people locked in while murders are happening – right up my alley. But unfortunately none of this turned out as I hoped.

Elin is a police officer but she is on leave because of something that happened while doing her job. She travels to a new hotel in the Swiss Alps for the engagement party of her brother Isaak. They are estranged since childhood. Their little brother drowned when they were children and that left Elin with guilt and unease because she can’t really remember what happened but somehow she blames Isaak. This event left her –understandably- deeply traumatized and she was not able to move on. As soon as they arrive at the hotel a snow storm happens that keeps the few guests and the staff trapped inside the hotel. Then a body turns up. The local police can’t come because of the snow. So Elin takes over the investigation.

As I said above, the setting did not do much for me here. Yes, there is snow and some trees, looming mountains sometimes, but mainly Elin and the others stay in the hotel. And the old sanatorium-turned-into-hotel did not give me the creeps either. But the main problem here is Elin. She is the worst police investigator I have ever encountered in a book. She is deeply traumatized because seeing her brother die when she was twelve, I get that. But she really never moved on or seems to want to move on. It seems to be fresh like it happened recently. She is also deeply insecure. She questions everything, her own thoughts and especially everything anybody says to her. As soon as somebody has a different opinion or even just asks a simple question she begins to question herself. Her boyfriend and her brother are constantly criticizing her, which was really getting annoying. But she seems so unstable that I began to ask myself that this was just a natural reaction because of her unhinged behavior. Maybe they just want to protect her because of her tendency to make the wrong decisions. In her private life as well as in her job. Elin clearly choose the wrong job working in the police. She is horrible at her job. She does not get anything about the whole case right.

This whole thing about Elin and her problems with her brother overshadowed the actual story about the sanatorium and the killings. It took the focus away and I did not get invested in the story. The writing did nothing to help me get involved and interested. We are always close to Elin and her thoughts questioning and dramatizing everything. So I never ever tried to find out who was the murderer. I just lost interest and got confused anyway because Elin gets everything totally wrong. To make it worse the story really is confused and it did not get better towards the end. It is a very unrealistic story. At the very end there is a hint that the author is planning a follow-up with Elin. Guess what, I am not going to read it. I am sorry to say that but this book was a disappointment.

I’ll admit it was the spooky setting of this book that most appealed to me. An old sanitarium in the Swiss alps that has been turned into a fancy pants hotel. What’s not to love?
The book is very atmospheric - the authors descriptions of the snow, the scenes, the storm - they’re brilliant.
So we are in this 5 star resort, it’s beautiful (if a bit creepy) yet Elin - our protagonist and police detective - has a strange feeling that she can’t quite put her finger on. Elin has quite a few of these feelings - which is why she is the most unbelievable detective possible. People start to die & Elin takes charge - putting herself in danger on numerous occasions, suspecting everyone except the butler & generally sharing her suspicions with every Tom, Dick & Harry.
I it’s tough to review really as the idea behind this book is great, I just don’t feel it was as well executed as it could have been.
And the epilogue? Really?

When Elin receives an out of the blue invitation from her brother Isaac to attend his engagement party at a converted hotel in Switzerland, she can't say no.  With people going missing and an avalanche blocking the roads Elin needs to investigate.

There is so much going on in this novel - murder, mutilation and mental health but to name a few! Firstly, the first few chapters of this book literally gave me nightmares! The creepy backdrop, the sinister circumstances created by the author just put you on edge from the start.  I did find that the story dragged in some parts, to start off so fast paced and then lull then back to fast again, it did take me a bit of time to get through it.  The main character Elin, I see her as a strong character but the consistent panic in her was hard to cope with.  I felt the story would have been just as good, or maybe better, if these things didn't happen as often throughout. The climax of the novel was one I didn't see coming so thats definitely a good thing!  Overall I did enjoy the book!

This book is due to be released 18 February 2021.  Thank you to @NetGalley for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.