Book review of The Chalet by Catherine Cooper

The Chalet by Catherine Cooper
Published by Harper Collins 31 October 2020

My review today is for The Chalet by Catherine Cooper, a crime thriller set in a luxury chalet in the French Alps. 

In one day, lives were changed forever, but who really knows the truth and who is out for revenge?

 

I’ll be the first to admit I am normally more of a rom-com kind of reader, but I must have a dark side too as death, murder, deceit and all sorts of other nasties in this book had me hooked.

 

In the late 1990’s, two brothers and their girlfriends are on a ski holiday together. There is tension and rivalry between the brothers and following an afternoon of off-piste skiing, only one brother returns to the chalet. The events from this holiday change the lives of those involved forever. Some move on, seemingly putting the tragedy to the back of their minds, some never stop looking over their shoulder and some are ruined, completely. 

 

In another chalet, twenty years later, two couples become snowed in while events spiral out of control around them. They are all very different characters, some I warmed to, some I did not, but they all do their best to hide their pasts and their real reasons for being where they are just now. 

 

The mixture of timelines, different stories and emotionally charged situations, cleverly woven throughout the book, kept me guessing as to who was linked back to the fated family ski holiday, and what part they had played in the tragedy. Some of the topics covered were brutal, but there was humour too, especially for those (like me) who have given skiing a try but were never born to be naturals. I loved following Louisa’s first days on the slopes with her boyfriend, as it brought back so many memories of my first skiing trip, coincidently, also in the late 1990’s.

 

This very quickly became a book that was difficult to put down as I did my best to second guess who was guilty, while waiting for the plot to fall into place. I loved it more than I was expecting and now that winter has arrived, I can recommend you cosy yourself up in your favourite reading corner and while away your time, virtually snowed in at a luxury chalet in the French Alps.

 

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