I expected big things from this book based on the cover and the blurb. However I found the outcome to be poor.

The story is very unbelievable, I can't imagine anywhere where this is likely to be a realistic tale. All of the characters were lethargic and uninteresting. Elin the main character wasn't likable and at times very annoying in some of her decisions.

However I kept reading hoping the final twist would make it worth it, unfortunately this didn't happen, the reasons given by the killer seemed poor given the extremity of the crimes.

Then throughout the whole story was a background story of Elina younger brother which was finally explained with no explanation or relevance to the rest of the book.

Lucas Carson is a property developer who has developed the old sanatorium into a luxury hotel. Elin Warner and her partner Will arrive at the new hotel, where her brother Isaac and her old friend Laure work. Isaac and she have not spoken since her brother died. Worse still Isaac did not attend their mother’s funeral and she has struggled with this. She hasn’t worked as a police detective for a year and needs to decide whether she wants to return. She is anxious/edgy and needs to come to terms with everything. This trip should give her and Will some quality time.

However best laid plans change when a murder occurs at the hotel. Changes in the weather mean that the hotel needs to be evacuated, but not everyone gets to leave before there is a significant avalanche and the police cannot reach the hotel to investigate the murder.

Elin is given permission by the local police to make some tentative enquiries, preserve the scene and cohort the remaining visitors and staff so they can remain safe. But things get complicated and more murders occur…
This could have been a modern Agatha Christie, but I found my initial enjoyment of the book weaned as the story progressed. I was unconvinced by the Elin- Will relationship. There was no emotion or physical/romantic connection – they came across as a couple with no deep connection that needed to part. Elin with all her issues, irritated me. She was very ego-centric, kept taking too many unrealistic risks, jumped to too many conclusions and where the twists should have been intriguing and entertaining they irked. There were quite a lot of gaps in the story and I ended up feeling disappointed. Others may thoroughly enjoy it, but it missed the mark and wasn’t credible enough for me.

A good example of the well-trodden "trapped in a gilded prison" genre of thriller. In this case, a magnificent, sleek and menacing mountain hotel in the Swiss Alps. Sarah Pearse sets the scene well with a cast of characters supporting an emotionally damaged hero as they try to come to terms with personal tragedy, whilst being the only one equipped to investigate a series of gruesome murders seemingly connected to one or more of the protagonists. There are plenty of twists and turns, the odd red herring and a satisfyingly convoluted ending with the building itself playing a starring role. There are obviously echoes of Christie here which I like. The story moves at a pleasing pace with few frills padding it out. Darkly entertaining, definitely worth a look.

The premise was certainly compelling and there was a vivid sense of place but I just couldn't get hooked. Perhaps it was to do with the characters whom I couldn't really connect with but I was unable to finish this one.

I really enjoyed this book. I got really invested in the characters and they were well developed. There were lots of twists and turns that kept me guessing. It was really tense and creepy! I highly recommend this book.

Set in a disused old hospital? Yep, I'm first in line to read. The opening chapters gripped me, as hoped, and while I motored through this, I found it a bit by-the-numbers. I was also a little sad there wasn't more about the sanatorium in its heyday. Having said that, though, this is a fast-mover, with all the twists and turns fans of the genre absolutely love. It's atmospheric, moody, and it's protagonist is sharp and empathetic, and you're happy to be by her side for this ride up the mountains. A good, lockdown read. Will definitely look out for the author's next one.

If Paula Hawkins and Agatha Christie could have met to write a book, this would be the result. It’s tense, twisting and dark with suspects changing as lies and hidden secrets are exposed. Given how many guests were trapped in the hotel, I would have liked to see more of them rather than just the main characters to give a sense of how the whole group were coping with being trapped in the storm with a killer on the loose.

The protagonist’s history, both recent and long past, intrudes in her present as she fights to remain calm and in control of a situation rapidly descending into chaos. I guessed her twist but that didn’t affect my enjoyment of the book.

I’d recommend this novel to fans of psychological thrillers and whodunnits.

This is a tense and creepy book, the action takes place in a classic isolated and cut off setting, in a large hotel at the top of a Swiss mountain during a snow storm. A young British police officer goes to meet her estranged brother and his fiancee. A woman goes missing and is found dead, then another one. Cut off in the storm the killer must be still here...
An excellent, exciting premise, but not so well executed.
This book promised so much, but lost pace and power towards the end.

When I first heard of it, I had such strong And Then There Were None vibes to it that I was excited. And everyone is talking about this! It seems to be everywhere at the moment!!!

And because of this, I should have loved it. I should have gone head-first into this.

And yet... have you ever read a blurb to a book and you thought you were promised one thing, but you start reading the book and realise it's something completely different? From the blurb, I expected something really creepy, something unnerving and nope. Things didn't really stick the landing and I questioned things all the time.

For example, it reads as if Elin (our main lead) hasn't spoken to her brother in years. He din't help with their mum's illness and death. He didn't help with Elin's PTSD, panic attacks or asthma (neither did her boyfriend at times). He hasn't been there nor care, and yet as soon as she gets an invitation from him for a spa holiday to celebrate his upcoming wedding, she drops everything and goes? Little things that characters say and do don't make sense.

I think I would have felt better about the story and the character's motivation if I knew them. But I never felt like I did. I always felt like I was being kept at arm's length. This could be a decision linked to our lead's PTSD, but the book changed POV quite often and that feeling was still there.

Bit disappointed as I had high hopes.

Kindly sent from the publishing team for an honest review. Full review is on my blog.

When I kept reading that this book was atmospherically chilling I didn't believe it and once I started to read it I fully understand the sentiment and hype around this book.
I enjoyed the twist and turns and the unpredictably of events and it keeps you guessing. The descriptions and dialogue transported me there and i loved it.

I found the last part was a bit slow but overall i enjoyed the book.

Definitely on my list to purchase a physical copy!

This book made me cold. Where the book was set, the photographs and images of the Sanatorium throughout the book, and the ending - rather shocking! An intriguing mystery filled with twists and turns.

Elin, who is on extended medical leave from the police force, is on holiday with her boyfriend Will. They are visiting a new hotel in Switzerland celebrating her brother Issac's engagement. However once there, Issac's fiancee disappears and another womens body turns up, weighed down in the swimming pool.

With an avalanche preventing the local police from reaching the hotel, Elin must look for clues. The hotel has a past, it used to be a treatment centre for tuberculosis in the 20s, with the current owner using some of the strange contraptions as displays. Can Elin solve the case without any one else going missing?

Its an interesting novel, mixing the past with the present in many ways, not just the hotel, but the previous case that caused Elin the be off work but also the loss of her younger brother Sam when she was 12 years old. There are snippets of newspaper reports in the novel too which add another element.

The case has lots of twists, one minute you think you know who did it, then the unveiling of the murderer takes you by surprise.

There doesn't appear to be a novel before this, so I dont fully appreciate why Elin is off work, there are hints but the epilogue an interesting lead to future storylines.

I received this book from netgalley in return for a honest review.

Thank you Netgalley, Random House Uk and Sarah Pearse for the copy of this book.

This atmospheric story is set in the Swisse Alps at the sinister Le Sommet. Once a sanatorium where terrible things are rumored to have happened, it's now a renovated five star hotel.

This is the last place detective Elin Warner wants to be. She has taken a leave of absence from work as a detective due to a terrible accident, her fiance Will is pressuring her into moving in with him and she is dreading reuniting with her estranged brother Isaac and his fiance Laure. But she's there for her brothers upcoming nuptials so she's trying to make the best of it. That is, until Laure goes missing, the bodies start piling up and there is a massive snow storm that has isolated the hotel and the remaining guests that couldn't get out quick enough. Elin has limited time to find Laure and the person who is leaving corpses all over the hotel, before it's too late and she becomes the next victim.

This is a dark, twisted atmospheric novel that is full of twists, turns and a surprising ending. There is something about being stranded in a snow storm, isolated and scared for your live that makes for a really immerse story. Brilliant book, well worth the 4 stars! Looking forward to reading more from this author.

Everything was set up for this book to be brilliant. The atmosphere and setting was fantastic, the death count rising, and just what was the gruesome history of the sanatorium?....however it just didnt do it for me. Elin's character was the only This is not a bad read, however I just never felt gripped by it...the story felt at times like it was 'at sea', which can be a good thing in a thriller, but reading through I found the ending below par too. Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book. I felt believable, and this was, in the end, was what made the overriding rating of 3/5...many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.

For the first 45% of this book I found it rather dull and nearly didn’t finish it however soon after that became very good.

I did find the chapters ending and starting in unusual places which was a bit annoying.

Some unexpected twists and turns at the end of the book which took me by surprise.

I loved this book! It kept me enthralled the entire time. The setting was what drew me to the book and the characters kept me reading. The end teases a sequel and I look forward to reading that

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this advanced copy.

There are a lot of mixed reviews on this book however I can safely say I enjoyed it. I was in need of a thriller with twisty elements and this book offered that. It was actually quite gruesome in parts and had me on the edge of my seat.
Elin, the protagonist frustrated me. She kept pushing her partner away almost on every page, she had a bad relationship with her brother and her brothers girlfriend turned out to be an old friend of Elin's that had ended on bad terms. She had left her detective role the year previous due to mental health problems but she sprang into action again in this book. She also kept putting herself into obviously dangerous scenarios e.g. at one point everyone was ordered to stay together but she walked off by herself outside to investigate. I couldn't quite relate to or offer empathy for her.
As with any 'whodunnit's, there was a cast of people to remember and it was a typical 'locked in the house with a murderer' type scenario but I did enjoy the fresh backdrop and the tension build up.
I would consider reading another of Sarah Pearse's books in the future.

High up in the Swiss Alps perches Le Sommet, a luxury hotel which used to be a sanatorium for tuberculosis patients. In the late-19th and early-20th centuries Switzerland had numerous sanatoria where people with long-term illnesses were sent to recover in the clean, crisp mountain air. It is in this remote setting that British police detective Elin Warner and her brother Isaac meet up after years of hostility to celebrate his engagement to Laure.

The siblings have had a strained relationship ever since the accidental death of their youngest brother, Sam. Isaac’s disinterest in their mother’s deteriorating health and subsequent death drove an even deeper wedge between them. The only reason Elin agrees to join Isaac and Laure at Le Sommet is to process what really happened when Sam drowned. Her memories of the day are all mixed up, and sometimes she wonders if her mind has been playing tricks on her.

Full review on Crime Fiction Lover: https://crimefictionlover.com/2021/03/sanatorium-by-sarah-pearse/

I loved this book's setting – a modern, minimalist hotel, once a sanatorium, nestled deep in the Swiss mountains. The sense of isolation really comes through, especially after the hotel evacuation when those left behind are trapped in the hotel and with a murderer. It had the feel of a modern-day Agatha Christie novel. The book started well, and the sinister nature of the first and subsequent murders and the gas mask is particularly unsettling.

However, unfortunately, it didn’t grip me as much as I wanted it too, and I found the reveal and the ending left me feeling disappointed.

I’m sure others will love it, and I believe it’s already on the Sunday Times Best New Thrillers list. Despite my views, I wish the author every success with it, as it's tough-going writing, finishing and getting a novel published.

A classic murder mystery: the killer and all his/her potential victims are caught in a storm in a luxury hotel high in the Swiss Alps. Adding to the tension, the hotel used to be a Sanatorium, with a murky past of its own. An easy read for lovers of all things mystery, with the author skilfully maintaining said mystery right to the end. The lead character has her own flaws (of course) and self-doubt must be overcome before she can step up as she needs, but step up she does and proves to be another female detective worth following. Will we meet her again, I want to know?