Today I have two quick book reviews for you. These books both have a similar premise, though I liked one a lot more.
The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse
Elin and her boyfriend visit the Swiss Alps to celebrate her brother’s engagement. Once there, a bad snow storm comes in and they are trapped in the hotel. Her brother’s fiance, Laure, goes missing and Elin, a detective on leave, has to jump back into that role to figure out what’s going on. I liked Elin overall, and I thought it was interesting how there was a pasty mystery Elin was trying to figure out along with the current missing person case. The storm definitely heightens things because Elin is the only “police” around when they get snowed in and a dead body shows up. This is the first in the Elin Warner series, and I am curious about book two, but I don’t know if I’ll read it or not. I gave this one four stars overall though it’s probably more of a 3 and 1/2.
One by One by Ruth Ware
One by One is told from two points of view: Erin and Liz. Erin is the housekeeper in the French chalet where the book takes place. Liz is one of the guests, who obviously does not want to be there. The rest of the party are all current employees for a company called Snoop, where Liz used to work but no longer does. When people start to go missing and/or turn up dead, things really start to amp up. Due to an avalanche, everyone is stuck in the chalet without means of getting help (or having help get to them). I could never really figure out who was behind everything, though I can’t say I was terribly surprised. Regardless, there were some fun twists and turns throughout that kept me intrigued. I really liked this one and gave it four stars. About halfway through, I definitely didn’t want to put the book down!
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I think both of these books have reinforced the idea that a vacation in a remote place, with the chance of bad snow conditions, is not ideal. LOL
I haven’t read either but i’d lean towards the Ruth Ware!
Ooh One by One by Ruth Ware sounds enticing! Thanks for sharing!
The Sanitorium was super creepy, right? Like the graphic images of certain scenes was a bit over the top for me.
These both sound fun and intriguing.
I don’t read a lot of this type of book, but I know my mom likes Ruth Ware. I’ll have to tell her about this one. Great reviews!
I am waiting for the audiobook for Ware, but so glad you enjoyed it!
I just loved the setting in The Sanatorium, so wonderfully creepy, but I was kind of meh on the book as a whole.