The Sanatorium

Elin Warner has not worked as a detective for a year. Post-traumatic stress and her mother’s funeral made her forget about her career. And she has absolutely no desire to go to her brother’s engagement party—especially since he’s been a stranger to her for a long time. Arriving right in the middle of a terrible storm, Elin immediately feels out of place. An isolated hotel in the Swiss Alps—just as luxurious as in the pictures—but through the lavish facade you can still make out an abandoned sanatorium. When her brother’s fiancée disappears without a trace, Elin realizes her instincts were right. The approaching snow avalanche panics the other guests as well. But the evacuation is halted when they find a woman’s body in the swimming pool. And only Elin can figure out what’s going on—even if the answers are buried in her grim past…

Imagine a book that Stephen King and Agatha Christie wrote together. The result is an ideal gothic thriller, full of clever puzzles and a troubling atmosphere.

“Absolutely wonderful gothic thriller, elegantly referencing classic closed-room detective stories, yet bold enough to break out of that closed-in atmosphere through a window. Pierce writes fresh, crisp prose like the snow of the Swiss Alps, and her characters charm you even as their numbers are inevitably dwindling.” —

“This nerve-tickling thriller has everything you need: a tense atmosphere, a sharp tongue, and unpredictable plot twists.” —