The story is told in two time lines, twenty years apart and from the viewpoint of a number of characters. Two young men go missing during a blizzard, while on a skiing trip in France. It might have been just another tragic accident if the young guides leading them had acted responsibly and immediately alerted the rescue services. Instead, mistakes were made which ruined a number of lives.

This was a well written, absorbing story, with a number of twists and turns, and an unexpected ending. It might not have been a book I would have picked up immediately, if I had not been offered it for review, but I would certainly recommend it.

I am grateful to the publishers and to NetGalley for providing a free advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Chalet was an entertaining read and a thriller with plenty of twists. The action moves between present day and 1998, when two men went missing off-piste in La Madiere. Only one was found.

Ria, Hugo, Simon and Cass are on holiday but it's clear that Ria doesn't want to be there, and it also seems that she regrets her decision to marry Hugo, who she appears to hold in contempt. A few days in to their holiday, the weather takes a turn for the worse, and some movement on the slopes leads to a body being discovered. It's one of the missing men from 1998 - Will. His brother Adam is contacted to come and identify the body.

But who is the little girl from 'Before' that is referred to? What does she have to do with the missing brothers? And how does Ria fit in to the mystery?

A good escapist read with enough suspense to keep the reader guessing and a delicious tale of revenge.

What a convoluted tale fantastic to read and it’s fabulous to try to work out who is who?
The story starts in the 1980’s with a young girl being abandoned by her mother who she eventually gets back to but her mum is hiding a terrible secret
Her mum went on a skiing holiday with her boyfriend Will and his brother Adam and his girlfriend. Her mum hated skiing and when the weather started to get really awful she decided not to ski anymore so retired to their room but someone decided she could be more useful
Then alongside this story is a separate story set in 2020 again at a very expensive ski chalet and suddenly a body has been found from a skiing accident in the eighties it turns out its Will his brother has to travel from his Thailand home to identify the body something he is not happy about
But someone knows what happened the day Will died and intends to seek their revenge

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins, for the review copy.
This is an unbiased review of the author's work and style.
If you want spoilers, please see the publisher's blurb and other reviewers' reports.
A good read containing insights into her future when author, Catherine Cooper may well strike again.
I wish her bonne chance.
The basis of the story is a well-trodden path, used by many writers from the golden age of the twenties through to modern times. It is a pity for someone who is endeavouring to break into a crowded market could not produce a better plotline.
The writing is good, and the interposing of time zones helps spread the story and kept my interest flowing.
An enjoyable read for on the beach when you are feeling too hot.
Three stars as a good attempt.

The blurb of this book really hooked me in. It said described the book as being for fans of C. L Taylor and Lucy Foley, both of whom I've read and really enjoyed this year.</p>

This book has two key timelines. In 1998, Will Cassiobury and his older brother, Adam, with their girlfriends arrive La Madiere in France for a for a ski holiday. Will has met his girlfriend, Louisa, at Oxford. She is not from the same social background as him as has no skiing experience She often feels out of place socially but her and Will seem very much in love.</p>

There is a rivalry between Adam and Will that borders of spitefulness, especially from Adam's part. He goads Will and mocks him. He convinces him to take on a challenging ski run during bad weather with tragic consequences.

In 2020, Hugo Redbush, owner of a luxury travel company, and his glamourous wife Ria are hosting a skiing holiday in a luxury cabin in an attempt to woo businessman Simon into investing in the company. Simon's wife Cass is struggling to cope with new baby Inigo despite the support of a nanny. Ever present are manager Matt and chalet girl Millie who are the epitome of service with a smile as the group of guests struggle with their marriages and tensions mount.
The stories of the characters gradually emerge as the tension increases. This one of those stories where none of the characters can be trusted and at various points I suspected several people. there are a lot of people with unsavory secrets.

The ski resort setting is fantastic and adds to the tension as the weather worsens and people are confined to the chalet combined with the danger of the mountains.

This was a fast-paced, thrilling read with some great twists.
Thank you to Harper Collins and Netgalley for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

A gripping and atmospheric thriller. A misfitting group gather at a posh chalet for a skiing trip, but there's a dark secret lurking in the past. Twenty years previously, two men ski into a blizzard, and only one returns...

The Chalet follows a fashion at the moment for books with unlikable characters; the main group are varying shades of selfish and unpleasant. I did enjoy the glitz and the claustrophobic nature of the setting, and I found this decent escapism. Perfect holiday reading, though maybe not if you are into skiing!

Well above average debut psychological thriller set in a luxury chalet in the French Alps with 2 brothers, Will and Adam skiing but one goes missing in 1998.

The date is important as the book switches from this date to 2020 when a group of friends use the same chalet for skiing and corporate entertaining. For me, this is where Ms Cooper excels with vivid characters that 'come alive' especially Hugo and his wife Ria, plus the location and the weather. Plenty of humour with descriptions of how not to ski and/or get on a ski lift!

I was slightly put off with the abused family situation, seemingly dumped in the middle of the book, which came together at the end but, for me, and (wait for it!), was "off piste".

Overall, an enjoyable read with a good twist at the end. However, the many timeline switches was not to my liking.

Thanks to Net Galley and Harper Collins Fiction for the chance to read and review.

Really enjoyed this book. Kept assigning characters within the story and still got it wrong a few times. There is a bit of a twist when it comes to the ski instructors that I didn’t see coming that did make it a bit of an OMG moment, but would definitely recommend

I enjoyed this book and it’s easy writing style which meant I powered through it, but the storyline (when it became clear where it was heading) was a little bit too convoluted and coincidence based to be believable. However, worth 4 stars for me.

An absolutely excellent read, kept me guessing almost to the very end. Good cast of characters some more likeable than others, much like in real life really. Highly recommended.

An interesting murder mystery lots of red herrings but still interesting and not really predictable, which makes a nice change from these sorts of books. Fully recommend

Addictive reading. Highly entertaining and page turning in the same vein as Lucy Foley/Shari Lapena.

A cleverly woven storyline of two parallel narratives spread 20 years apart, the only drawback was the reveal coming forth at the end of 2nd act leaves a weird sense of displacement.

Told briskly and with a real panache of storytelling

Someone knows what really happened that day. And somebody will pay...

In 1998 whilst on a ski trip to the French Alps, brothers Will and Adam get lost in a blizzard. Only one returns.

During a luxury getaway in 2020, whilst desperately trying to encourage a new investor into his business, Hugo, wife Ria and friends are suddenly caught up in a web of lies after the body of the missing skier is found.

‘The Chalet’ is told from a multi-POV-multi-timeline perspective, as seems to be the trend with thrillers of late, but this is not simply a trope; it makes the novel come alive. I was absolutely gripped not only by the lead up and aftermath of the tragic accident, but also the seemingly failing marriage between Hugo and Ria, with the latter’s slow descent into paranoia.

Whilst I absolutely loved the novel, I found the majority of the characters unlikable and so was not necessarily invested in what happened to them individually as much as how their development worked to intertwine the plot. The unexpected recollections midway through of a young child at the start of hard life moving between foster homes absolutely ripped my heart out and I was weeping as I read.

I have to advise that there is a scene of sexual violence, and the detailed breakdown of the victim afterwards, as well as suicide references. These are not written to shock, however, and instead form part of the resolution of the plot, as well as a huge twist that I absolutely did not anticipate.

Cooper has produced a perfect novel for fans of thrillers without too much convolution of plot, and I highly recommend this book to everyone.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins for allowing me an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book from reading the first page to the last,it had me frequenyly holding my breath wondering what was going to happen next, the author constanty turning up the tension til the final twist.
The storyline was taut,weaving together various characters and twisting them around each other til the true story unravels itself.
An excellent read.

Average but enjoyable!

A respectable 3.5 stars for The Chalet, it won’t win any awards but it’s a great little thrilling read perfect for fans of Ruth Ware and C.L Taylor.

The characters aren’t likeable at all but it adds to the story and has some naughty little twist that I didn’t see coming! I was not a fan of the ending since I thought it was a little predictable but there’s enough here to keep any reader happy enough!

This story started off well but then became a little unbelievable to me. In 1998 two brothers set off, with two ski guides, to ski in worsening weather. Somehow the guides reach the bottom of the mountain without their clients and then frantically start looking for them. Only one brother is found. The other has disappeared. Fast forward twenty years and his body is found and his brother has to make the journey back to the mountain to identify him. He ends up staying in a chalet with four other people and some of these people know more about his brothers death than he does. There is a lot of intrigue but the characters don't ring true and this wasn't a gripping tale for me.

Fantastically twisty thriller. So many different threads to this, so cleverly intertwined, and a lot I didn’t see coming. I loved the setting too: so beautiful and luxurious, and sinister all at once. It kept me gripped.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Publisher for inviting me to this this ARC.

This book is a dual story line about an accident in a French Ski resort in 1998 and another incident in 2020 at the same resort. That is told in two time frames and by multiple characters.

I don’t like writing negative reviews and I rarely do, especially for debut writers. But I found this story slow and the characters unlikable, almost without exception they were pretentious, selfish, arrogant snobs. Maybe that’s what French ski resorts are like. If they are, remind me to stay away from them. There was not one person who I could identify with and who had any redeeming qualities. I accept nasty characters are needed in a book, but to have so many coming together, in was like a convention of horrible people.

The only reason I got to the end was it was an ARC and I felt obliged to finish it. I felt the ending was so wishy washy. The last line was as corny as hell, was it put in as a dare? Possibly 2.25 stars but could easily been a 1 star book.

Revenge is a dish best served cold, or so they say. In The Chalet by Catherine Cooper we find two stories separated by a generation but so comingled that it may be worth a call to the Covid police. Revenge though does take place in the chalet, a ski resort lodge for the uber wealthy. Yes, revenge was aged slowly and over years but served rather hot. Whilst it was an imaginative story with a good writing style, I believe it to be let down by its execution. I must confess I am not a skier and I detest the snow but surely the extreme weather conditions would have curtailed any thought of skiing? Some of the company names were a little juvenile but maybe I'm going off piste? The real trick which missed being exploited more fully was the daughter, unwittingly murdering her father. When Adam took the DNA test swab I was convinced more would be made of this. Was the deathbed revelation true, or a trick to secure help? With such a simply surmised conclusion, it didn't do the bulk of the novel any favours. I would give it four stars for content and three for execution. That makes it 3.5 and with rounding a reluctant 4.

If you liked Lucy Foley's books, then you will like this. It's set in a luxury ski chalet in the Alps, where Hugo and Ria have come to meet an investor in Hugo's travel business. Twenty years ago, in the same resort, two brothers and their girlfriends come for a ski-ing holiday, but one of them doesn't return. And in the present day, a body is found.

There are multiple character points of view, from Ria, Hugo, the chambermaid Millie, one of the girlfriends in the flashback, the brash ski instructor, and one of the brothers. It starts off a little confusing, but as you get further in it all starts to come together and make a little more sense. One of the twists I guessed, but others took me by surprise and were quite cleverly done. I thought it was a decent, readable thriller overall!