The Sanatorium: The spine-tingling #1 Sunday Times bestseller and Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick (Detective Elin Warner Series, 1) Paperback – 30 Dec. 2021

The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse is one of the most chilling reads I’ve read. It is the perfect book to read in the winter months, maybe not one to take with you though, if you’re going on a skiing trip. The novel is set in an old sanatorium in Switzerland, recently converted into a luxury hotel. The guests who are arriving are among the first to try it out. But the plans for the hotel came under a lot of scrutiny from the locals. It took years to get the plans approved for the development to go ahead.I absolutely loved the setting in this book. Sarah Pearse opens her novel with such a chilling prologue, which takes place five years before the main events. It is in an isolated location, and the route to the hotel is a dangerous one. I can remember one year going skiing when I was very young and having a bad experience driving to the hotel, which was almost impossible to find. One of the families who were with us nearly slid off the road. It still gives me chills thinking about that. This is what I was picturing as I read Sarah Pearse’s opening chapters.It doesn’t get much more relaxing for the guests when they finally arrive at the hotel. They are there to celebrate the engagement of Isaac and Laure. Isaac’s sister, Elin, is a detective back in the UK. Already there is an uncomfortable atmosphere in the hotel. Some of the guests aren’t too happy with the thought of what the hotel used to be. Then Laure goes missing, which is completely out of character and unexpected. Would she really want to go off on her own when she is celebrating her engagement?Because of the dangerous weather conditions, the Swiss Police are unable to reach them, and Elin offers to help out. However, as a UK police officer, she has no jurisdiction in Switzerland. This is when the tension begins to rise. I had suspicions about almost everyone in the book, and I really liked how Sarah Pearse wrapped everything up, concluding her story on another utterly chilling note.The Sanatorium is a brilliant, atmospheric read which will keep you turning the pages. I couldn’t put it down, and I finished it in just two days. I really enjoyed it. Highly recommended.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERSSuch a good book. An incredible read. The 2nd book I’ve read by Sarah Pearse.The thrill of it, the page turning. The plot twists. You could also not figure out who it was until Elin found out as well. The story line and plot was greatly unpredictable. The loose ends were tied up and the character development was outstanding.None of it was cliche, everything had a reason. I really enjoyed the book personally because you felt what Elin Warner was feeling. You saw what she saw, felt what she felt; even down to the panic attacks. You could really feel the characters emotion throughout the book and it was a really good read.The amount of plot twists were sublime; just when you think you know who the killer is, they’re dead and someone else comes into suspicion. That’s what I really like about Pearse, she keeps you on your toes. Always thinking and plotting. You feel like you’re one step ahead and you’ve figured out the killer but it turns out that you’re wrong.All the reasons behind the storyline add up, there’s no plot holes and there’s certainly no questionable points in the book.For me I’d give this 4 stars. It was an impeccable read however it didn’t have that 5 star wow factor. Pearse is a brilliant writer throughout and I cannot wait to read the next one and follow Elin’s journey.

I started off absolutely loving this book as it contains two elements that I love in a mystery. Firstly, it is a form of locked-room mystery in that the characters become cut-off from the outside world so you know the killer must be on the premises. Secondly, I love novels that feature a building that is a mysterious character in itself. This novel takes places in a former hospital that has been turned into a high-end hotel that gets cut off from the world by an avalanche. The author does a fantastic job of building up the suspense in the first part of the novel. I loved her descriptions of the landscape and the hotel. The hotel's back story is also fascinating. The novel started to fall apart halfway through for the following reasons:- Elin is such a frustrating character. The emotionally damaged detective is a staple of many crime novels. Unfortunately, Elin is such a mess that it becomes frustrating to read about her yet again falling apart or see her yet again freeze out her loving boyfriend. There is a big secret about Elin's past that is revealed at the end of the novel but I expect many people will guess it early on.- there are so many holes and unexplained events in the plot. After I finished the book I constantly found myself thinking 'but why did x do that' or 'but how did y get there'. There are incidents in the book that are discussed in a lot of detail and then never referred to again.- there are so many unrealistic and unlikely events in the novel. I am generally happy to suspend my disbelief to some degree when reading crime novels. However, there were so many moments in this novel that made me roll my eyes. For example, Elin phones the local police asking if she can investigate the crime and the police do not even check her credentials with the UK police. She could have been a fantasist or the killer!- the author is clearly hoping to write a series based around Elin as there is a mystery about Elin's previous job that is never explained and then there is a frustrating epilogue that is clearly supposed to be a cliffhanger. I think most crime series novels can be read as standalone novels so I do find it frustrating that a big part of Elin's story is not explained because it will presumably be used in another novel.