The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse

Book Description:

A beautiful, eerie hotel in the Swiss Alps, recently converted from an abandoned sanatorium, is the last place Detective Elin Warner wants to be. But her estranged brother has invited her there for his engagement party, and she feels she has no choice but to accept.

Arriving in the midst of a threatening storm, Elin immediately feels on edge. And things only get worse when they wake the next morning to find her brother’s fiancée is missing. With access to the hotel cut off, the guests begin to panic.

But this is only the first disappearance. Everyone’s in danger – and anyone could be next . . .

My Thoughts:

This book has the perfect isolated setting. Set in the Swiss Alps, you think it would be an idyllic place to spend time in this refurbished building that is now a bespoke hotel, when it’s cut off from the outside world, you could feel the temperature not only drop on the outside but on the inside when someone goes missing.

This was a slow burn story to start with but due to the shortish chapters, before you know it, you are right in the thick of things and caught up with the disturbing events that are happening at the hotel. The story twists and turns as revelations happen throwing everything into turmoil as you think its headed in one direction only to be thrown into another.

Elin is a character with more than one demon to try and conquer, one from her past and one more recent. For a detective, she comes across quite weak to start with but it isn’t long before she is fighting to stay in control of what is happening as with no one else able to get to the hotel in an official capacity, she takes it upon herself to get behind what is going in.

The Sanatorium is an atmospheric read that will give you chills. The more sinister that things become at the hotel, the more on edge I felt. The author knows how to draw you right in with a creepy beginning and I couldn’t wait to see what secrets this building was hiding within its walls. From what I can gather, I believe this is the first book to feature Detective Elin Warner of which with how this one ends, it has certainly left me keen to read more!