Review of THE SANATORIUM by Sarah Pearse

 2 Stars

I listened to this book on my morning walks, and I’m sure that the other walkers I encountered must have wondered about my head shaking and eye rolling.  There is just so much wrong with this novel.

Elin Warner, a police detective on leave because she suffers panic attacks after a botched investigation, and her boyfriend travel to Le Sommet, a remote luxury hotel in the Swiss Alps, to attend the engagement party of her estranged brother Isaac.  Her attendance is not to celebrate but to confront Isaac about the death of their brother Sam many years ago because she suspects Isaac was responsible. 

Shortly after their arrival, Isaac’s fiancée Laure goes missing and another woman is found dead.  Because of snowstorms and an avalanche, the Swiss police cannot come to the hotel, so Elin offers to investigate.  Bodies pile up in this locked-room mystery.  The creep factor is that the hotel, though almost completely renovated, was once a sanatorium for people with tuberculosis. 

What irritated me more than anything is how inept and inconsistent Elin is.  Sometimes she panics and hesitates, and other times she goes off by herself even when the danger mounts – and despite the fact that not waiting for back-up in an investigation led to her leave of absence from her job.  Sometimes it takes her forever to make a deduction:  a body is found with hands and feet bound, and wearing a gas mask, and with amputated fingers, yet it is only the presence of sandbags that prompts her to conclude that this death was not an accident?!  She ignores obvious things like the bracelets found on the dead when those are so much a part of the murderer’s signature.  At other times, she jumps to conclusions; she suspects at least three different people and is proven incorrect each time.  She shares information with everyone, even her brother whom she doesn’t trust, but keeps information from the Swiss police?  If this is the way she normally did her work, surely she would have been dismissed for incompetence!

Considering the body count, a strong motive is required, but that is certainly not the case.  The explanation given by the killer is so complicated and convoluted that it is just ridiculous.  And don’t get me started on the epilogue!  The possibilities suggested are all illogical.

The writing style is also annoying.  The style is so overwritten as to be overwhelming.  Phrases appear again and again, as do descriptions.  How many times must the reader’s attention be drawn to the amount of glass in the hotel’s structure?  How often does Elin try to grasp at some idea that her mind trips over?  All of Elin’s thoughts and emotions are mansplained.  And are eyes actually so revealing of one’s state of mind?

The chapters are short and always end with a dramatic, suspenseful line.  What is irritating is that the next chapter picks up from exactly the same spot.  Why would a conversation be divided into two chapters?  This is nothing more than a cheap use of cliffhangers. 

Stay away from this mystery unless you like a totally amateurish detective, unsupportive and patronizing male characters, and an unrealistic plot with a nonsensical resolution.  The epilogue suggests that there will be a sequel.  I regret wasting my time on this book so I will certainly be avoiding any follow-up.