I liked this thriller at first but found it ultimately disappointing. It’s not one of the most addictive thrillers I’ve encountered, having taken me three days to finish when I had plenty of spare reading time. It’s a good debut though and pleasantly seasonal if you read it in the winter.
Set in a ski resort in the French Alps, the story follows the viewpoints of several people who are staying at a luxury chalet in January 2020. This narrative alternates with the same resort in 1998, when two skiers went missing. I enjoyed the unusual setting, as I have no experience of the Alps, skiing or chalets at all and am 99.9% sure I never will. There are some good twists in the novel, which were generally unpredictable. The characters are strongly drawn but are so unlikeable that I didn’t care what happened to them. Certainly I’d hope never to meet any of them in real life.
Although I didn’t enjoy the novel as much as I’d hoped, I would consider reading Catherine Cooper’s next work.
First published in 2020.
Okay, this sounds so much like The guest list… it was very much praised but I couldn’t get into it…. Have you read that one?
I did start reading The Guest List because I’d seen it everywhere… I gave up after 2 chapters because I couldn’t get into it either! There aren’t any weddings in The Chalet. I can’t comment any further on similarities.