The Chalet by Catherine Cooper

Synopsis

French Alps, 1998

Two young men ski into a blizzard… but only one returns.

20 years later

Four people connected to the missing man find themselves in that same resort. Each has a secret. Two may have blood on their hands. One is a killer-in-waiting.

Someone knows what really happened that day.

And somebody will pay.

Review
December 1998, the weather is terrible in the French Skiing town of Le Madiére but brothers Will and Adam are determined to ski off piste. With two guides they set off down the mountain with poor visibility but only one of the brothers returns. Twenty two years later Ria books a chalet at Le Madiére for her husband Hugo to entertain Simon and his wife Cass in the hope of investment in his company. But it is not only the residents of La Madiére that harbour secrets but also the montains themselves, but secrets are there to revealed. Four residents, one dead body and someone set for revenge, this is a fast paced compelling thriller.

The Chalet is written in three parts and has a split timeline in 1998, and the events leading up to the tragedy on the mountain and in 2020. Interestingly the chapters are all in the first person narrative, voiced by Ria, Hugo and Adam in the present, Louisa and Will in 1998. I felt that this was like reading a testimony, as if each character is giving their side of the story and giving different perspectives to the reader. The chapters I found most hearwrenching were from that of a small child, neglected by her mother. The split time line had me in the mindset of ‘just one more chapter’ with deatils being drip fed and secets being revealed. This also meant the intensity and suspense ramped up the further I got into the book, gripping me and not letting go even after the book finished.

Both time lines have characters and relationships that mirror each other. 2020 Ria and Hugo have only been married for two years, but there is a tension between them, Ria is cold and disdainful, dismissive of Hugo. It feels from her side that she is bored and in a rut, more like an older married couple than recently married. Ria is aslo being secretive, very paraniod about her iPad not wanting Hugo see what is on it. She also feels out of place in this luxurious setting have coming from a more humble background than Hugo and Simon. What Hugo and her do agree on is their dislike of Simon, whom Hugo needs to invest in his company. Simon is loud, arrogant and dismissive of his much younger wife who is vunerable and suffering from post natal depression. Back in 1998, it is the two brothers Adam and Will who are staying in Le Madiére with their girlfriends Louisa and Nell. Like Ria, Louisa feels out of her depth with the extravagence of this trip, even though her boyfriend Will has chosen a lodge not too luxurious. She feels that Adam and Nell lookdown on her for not having money or having the latest fashions and they begrudge staying in less luxurious chalet. The brothers, a bit like Simon and Hugo, are combative at times, Adam always pushing Will on, wanting to be the best and show it, like stags locking horns. Catherine Cooper draws you in to these relationships, automatically making me not like the dominant characters who had arrogance about them, and drawing you the more submissive and likeable characters, but you still need to have you wits about you as no one is exactly what they seem.

Catherine Cooper’s plot and characters are like those mirrors in fairgrounds where everything is distorted and doesn’t reflect the true picture in front of it. The split timeline keeps you moving between past and present, with each chapter being left hanging at an intriguing point so that you need to keep on reading. This is a fast paced thriller but still details are drip fed with subtle clues in the plot that intrigue and compell you to read on. The setting of the Fench Alps is stunning, and has the juxtaposition of the beauthiful snowy landscape with the cosy feel of the chalet, with it’s furs throws, soft beds, sauna and hot tubs. Whilst this paints a picture perfect landscape, there are reminders throughout of how nature can turn quickly into something sinister and deadly, rather like some of the characters.

I loved reading The Chalet and was so engrossed by the story that I read the last three hundred pages in bed on Sunday night keeping me up long after my bedtime. It is hard to believe that this is Catherine Cooper’s debut novel, the plot was perfectly paced, moving quickly enough to keep my interest whilst also not giving too much away too soon, and her characters are depicted with intrigue, intrest and a reality that I could identify with. Chilling in both setting and plot, this is a brilliant and claustrophbic thriller to keep you company on these cold winter nights.

I’d like to thank Harper Collins and Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for my invite on the blog tour in return for my honest review.