The Chalet by Catherine CooperMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
1998, in La Madiere in the French Alps, two ski instructors lose a pair of brothers in poor weather. Only one of the brothers returns.
22 years later, in similarly bad weather, two couples stay in one of the resorts chalets, along with a baby, a nanny and employees of the chalet company. Each of these people have secrets; at least one of them is connected to the events of 1998.
THE CHALET is a claustrophobic thriller in a setting of which I know very little. I have never been skiing, or visited a resort such as La Madiere. It is to Catherine Cooper's credit that she uses her intimate knowledge of such resorts to take the reader there. It is even more impressive that she makes this group of pretty unlikeable characters compelling. Each of these individuals is hiding something; none of them are particularly sympathetic. And yet, we care what happens, as the truth is gradually revealed slowly through the first person, unreliable narration by several of the main characters and the judicious use of flashbacks.
I really enjoyed THE CHALET, a thrilling, and chilling, debut. Thanks to Harper Fiction for the review copy.
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