I enjoyed The Chalet and thought it a gripping read but this one didn't hit the spot. I really didn't like any of the characters and found them unbelievable and the constant referrals to what happened in London were just annoying. Twists yes but suspension of belief was too much and it felt contrived and trying too hard.

I very much enjoyed Catherine Cooper’s first novel – The Chalet – which became a Sunday Times Bestseller – and so when the publisher emailed to see if I fancied reading her second novel, I jumped at the chance and downloaded an ARC from NetGalley. Here’s the blurb:

“They thought it was perfect. They were wrong…
A glamorous chateau
Aura and Nick don’t talk about what happened in England. They’ve bought a chateau in France to make a fresh start, and their kids need them to stay together – whatever it costs.
A couple on the brink
The expat community is welcoming, but when a neighbour is murdered at a lavish party, Aura and Nick don’t know who to trust.
A secret that is bound to come out…
Someone knows exactly why they really came to the chateau. And someone is going to give them what they deserve.”

I romped through this second book from Catherine Cooper enjoying it just as much as The Chalet. I was expecting twists and turns and unexpected things happening – and I was not disappointed!

The book follows 2 timelines – Aura and Nick and their kids having moved to France – and back in England where you know ‘something’ has happened. Flicking back and forth between the timelines really kept up the momentum of the book.

Aura is a typical wannabe Instagram influencer – sharing her life and her kids on public social media channels, and inviting a film crew to document their move to France so she can have her 15 minutes of fame. I have to say, I didn’t really like Aura at all. But then equally I didn’t really like Nick either! Sometimes not liking / empathising with the main characters takes away from the enjoyment of the book – but in this case it didn’t – possibly because bad things kept happening to them!!

It takes pretty much the entire book for both timelines to unravel and to see how they are entwined. As I said, I was expecting a big twist – just like in The Chalet – and there were a couple! And again, I’m not sure I would have spotted them even if I’d known from the start what they would be.

All in all this is not a ‘difficult second album’ of a book – it’s fabulous!

This is the second book I’ve read written by Catherine Cooper and this one was as brilliant as the first. She has an amazing talent for writing stories full of suspense and intended to keep you guessing.
Aura and Nick buy a chateau in France to renovate and run as a hotel. They move there to escape past events back in England and to try to salvage what’s left of their relationship. They are introduced to a diverse group of ex-pats and are soon invited to a dinner party, which turns out to be not quite what they expected.
Next comes a party where someone is murdered and soon there is a deep mistrust of everyone in their little community. The body count soon starts to rise.
Turns out some people are not who they appear to be and plans are set in motion to achieve the revenge that has been a long time in the planning.
Full of suspense and twists and turns. Can’t wait for another book from this author and so grateful for this gift from the publisher.

The Chateau focuses on Aura and Nick, a couple with two young children, who have recently moved to France to buy a chateau which they plan to renovate and open to guests. It’s hard work, and they are struggling with the presence of a camera crew filming them all the time. Working out living in a new community is going to bring pressures, but strange noises and events make things very difficult…and the hints of something in their past make it intriguing.
The story was paced quite slowly initially, watching them settle in and showing the reality of them settling in. However, it got more interesting once we started to get details of the event in their past and shifted back in time to see more of what had happened.
With the details from Aura and Nick’s past coming out the story was more intriguing. When we learn of a death in the community it seems a temporary blip, but the incident involving Nick gives us clear hints that there’s more to some of the events that have been happening.
Both characters had faults. They were, if I’m honest, irritating but that doesn’t really justify what happens. Things went at a frantic pace towards the end, and though we come to understand why I didn’t feel there’d been enough legwork put in early to ensure this made sense.
Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this before publication.

Aura, Nick and their two little boys move to a Chateau in France to start again leaving behind ‘what happened’ in London. A loathsome pair, neither of them are very likeable, though I prefer the weak Nick to the downright selfish self-centred Aura. This is a brilliant tale full of surprises. I never saw the endings coming, not in London nor France. The plot shifts back and forth as we learn what brought the couple to sell up and invest their future in the almost derelict Chateau. They may have brought their hopes with them but they also brought their resentments. Full of twists and turns this is a very clever book. It was only after I’d finished it I realised the author also wrote The Chalet which is another belter of a read from this very talented author

I loved this one! Nick and Aura are absolute pains, total narcissists, and I loved the way the story unravelled. They buy a run down French chateau with plans to turn it into a dream home, well the dream soon turns to a nightmare. The book keeps referring back to what had happened in England before they moved and we are slowly given some details as the book progresses. As with this author's previous book, The Chalet, the method of revenge on the 'guilty parties' was exquisite! I felt so sorry for the couple's children especially with Aura as their mother and although the book has a very twisted outcome I thought it was glorious!

I didn’t finish this book, I didn’t like the main characters and the constant “what happened in London” which should have been suspense became increasingly annoying and while I was intrigued at first at 30% into the bookI didn’t care.

I give 3 stars as I didn’t finish it and it may not be my type of book.

This book took a while to get going for me - there is a lot of story and then a lot of flashbacks before the plot becomes quite captivating. I did love the multiple twists in the latter parts of this book, which come like a series of punches!
For the first time in my reviewing history I am going to say something which is a SPOILER - thank you very much, dear author, for highlighting the possible consequences of the anti-vax stance. My hat off to you.

When I finished this book I pretty much stood up and applauded the author. So many times throughout the book I thought I had it all worked out. But Nope. Nada. No! I might have seen a couple of things coming but I wasn't prepared for the half of it!
Aura and Nick have moved to France with their two children. To a chateau no less. A chateau in need of a lot of renovation. It's a fresh start for them as there is something back in England that they are desperate to leave behind them. Although a bit out of their depth, there's a good ex-pat community all willing to help and welcome them into the fold. And then there's a network of people who will come and work for lodgings. And, and this I found a bit strange given the fresh start and all, there's a camera crew following them for a TV program...
And that's really all I want to say at this point. This is one of those books where less is definitely more going in. My advice to you would be to stop reading reviews and just crack on with the book.
Plotting is simply sublime and so very well executed. You really need to keep your wits about you while reading so as not to miss anything. This author is well versed in sneaking in something so innocuous that if you're not paying attention, you'll kick yourself. I read a lot of this genre book. It's my bread and butter and I read north of 300 books a year, so it takes a wily author to pull the wool over my eyes... but yeah, this one holds that accolade.
Characterisation is also excellent and all the main players were very easy to connect to in some way or other - both positive and negative. I'd love to explain further but, you know, spoilers...
All in all, a cracking read that I have no hesitation in recommending. I really can't see what the author has in store for next time, given that she has now set the bar quite high. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Catherine Cooper has pulled it out the bag again. The Chateau is following on from “The Chalet’. However, note it is a completely different set of characters.

The Chateau starts a little slowly but then the twists and turns start flowing. You think you know what’s going on then something else happens and it changes for train of thoughts.

A highly recommended book. You won’t put it down till you’ve reached it’s gripping finale.

Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to see an arc

Aura and Nick have a secret and move to a dilapidated chateau in France to do it up as a B&B and start a new life.
The expat community welcome them, some a lot more than others in ways Aura is uncomfortable with though Nick enjoys it which shocks Aura.
Then Frank one of their expat friends is murdered and secrets start to come out, will Aura and Nick get to keep their secret or is it already too late for them.

I thought it was going to be a bit boring at the beginning but the twists kept coming that kept me reading till the great ending. Very well written definitely recommend.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Sent to Goodreads

Wowza, what a read! Mind-blowingly good, full of dizzying twisty turns, chilling chills, thrilling thrills, and faso worthy shocks! Amazingly well written, with fantastic character development really connected me to the story more than I thought possible! An unique spin on a story you’ve likely seen in many thrillers, which is definitely worth the read! Fast paced, intense, and unputdownable! Highly, highly recommend!

Will make sure to buzz around platforms and use top Amazon reviewer number!

The Chateau is fantastic. It has secrets and lies in abundance and there were so many unexpected twists to the story I stayed gripped the whole way through with an ending that I did not see coming.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for my ARC.

This is an Ishmael Jones book so how can it be bad!!! I would absolutely recommend anything that involves this series as they never disappoint. I would totally read every one of them as they all are unique and always have an amazing story line. Read this book if you want a good story, but read all others in the series first as then it will make sense. Fabulous characters and intriguing plot lines make everyone a great read

Aura and Nick and their two sons have moved to France after “the events that happened in London” (this is referred to way too many times prior to the big reveal) and are renovating their chateau which they intend to turn into a chambres d’hotes (also a phrase used way too much) whilst a reality show films the drama.

This book is told from the viewpoint of several of the characters. The main characters, Nick and Aura are both completely unlikeable protagonists - I assume this was deliberate - as usually you’re rooting for the storyteller, this was unsettling, adding to the tension.

The conclusion was satisfying in a way as I’d guessed who was responsible. The whys were a little more far fetched than I’d imagined. Ultimately I finished this in a day so it was an enjoyable and fast paced read.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

sorry to say though i read it right to the end it wasnt one that i enjoyed at all...its well written but i had guessed who what and why right in the middle of the book apart from the twist at the end

it was an interesting concept and deals with quite a lot of stuff, it wasnt what i was expecting from the title and book cover.....

Married couple Aura and Nick buy a dilapidated chateau in France with the dream of fixing it up and opening a chambre d’hôte (bed & breakfast). They believe it will be the new start their family needs after leaving behind a troubled past in the UK. The renovation is being filmed as part of TV makeover series French Fancy.

The atmosphere quickly deteriorates when strange things begin happening at the chateau. Is the past finally catching up with them? When a neighbour is brutally murdered at a Halloween party, Aura and Nick realise how little they actually know about their new friends in France. Have they made the biggest mistake of their lives by leaving the UK?

The Chateau was an enjoyable and engaging read despite feeling disjointed when, partway through the book, the story abruptly switched from 'now' in France to 'then' in the UK. Had there been alternating timeline chapters I think the story would have flowed more naturally. However, that being said, it was well-paced with fully developed characters.

Although I had to suspend disbelief several times as the plot became a little far-fetched, I enjoyed the ending and the various threads being pulled together. Overall I thought it was very entertaining and a good read.

I really enjoyed "the chalet" and the first third of this book set in France, but then when the timeline takes us back to the reason the family buy a chateau and move from the Uk it became like two different stories. They only really seemed to link up again with the end twists, involving characters who were new to the plot and quite a lot of stretching credulity.
Thank you to netgalley and Harper Collins for an advance copy of this book

This book was an odd mixture. It was a breezy read, but the story line was somewhat far-fetched. The thrill/suspense was very low-key, and around the two-thirds mark I wondered when the story would kick in. Aura and Nick were not very likeable as protagonists, and the other characters, while essential to the story, were almost cartoonish stereotypes.

The author did a great job of setting the scene, but towards the end, the book degenerated into a “tell”. There was no satisfaction of a reveal or twist; rather, we were told everything. The two unconnected stories that came together needed a suspension of disbelief. I also wondered if Aura’s <spoiler>preference for non-allopathic medicine and her lax attitude towards vaccination</spoiler> was shoved in later on to make a point.

(Review copy from NetGalley)

I first read The chalet by this author and I couldn't put it down. when I had an offer to read this book i click on it so fast. it kept it me on my toes. Cant wait to see what's next by this author.