Jean-Patrick Manchette said, ‘The crime novel is the great moral literature of our time’. She has penned a genuinely absorbing page-turner, as disturbing as it is brutally entertaining, and her innovative authorial voice is likely to garner many approving fans. A bold fusion of the classic locked-room murder mystery, with the stalwart tropes of the crime thriller genre, Pearse also laces her edgy spine-chiller with a baleful, disquieting undertow, dextrously grafted onto her story by dint of her consummate use of the psychological thriller genre. The Sanatorium is available in the Recreational Reading section.īook reviews by library staff reflect their personal opinions and not necessarily those of the library or university.Sarah Pearse’s debut novel has been garlanded by many effulgent reviews, celebrity endorsement and judging from myriad positive responses on social media platforms, has delighted many of its readers.

I am not looking forward to the sequel that is scheduled to be released in 2022.

While I understood the killer’s motivation, some things that happened made no sense to me. She habitually reveals her suspicions to probable suspects and puts herself in dangerous situations for no apparent reason. Even knowing her backstory, I found it difficult to sympathize with or even like Elin. The second half was a slow-moving letdown. I enjoyed the first half of the book, with its interesting premise and secluded setting. As bodies are discovered and a storm and avalanche prevent exit and access to the hotel, Elin attempts to secure the scene and investigate the murders on her own. Then, Laure disappears, and Elin starts having flashbacks about the death of her younger brother, Sam. The occasion is the celebration of his engagement to the hotel’s assistant manager, Laure.Įlin travels to Switzerland with her boyfriend, Will, even though she does not have a good feeling about the trip. On extended leave, British police detective Elin Warner accepts an invitation to Le Sommet from her estranged brother, Isaac. An isolated hotel in the Swiss Alps that was formerly a sanatorium for the treatment of tuberculosis, an impending storm, and a detective on leave after botching a case make an intriguing starting point for Sarah Pearse’s first novel The Sanatorium.

Book review the sanatorium