We boo and hiss certain characters and there is usually a song and routine at the end of the show where audience members are invited up to perform. There are the standard phrases that we all know by heart, but can never remember where we learnt them 'Oh no you didn't/Oh yes you did'. There is usually a dame played by a man, the principal boy is usually played by a woman, and the love interest is also played by a woman.

Panto is a strange thing when you think about it. Readers who love police procedurals, atmospheric reads, and Nordic crime novels will enjoy The Sanatorium.Do you have Pantomimes where you are? I ask this because this weekend saw our village Pantomime 'Jack and the Beanstalk' and I got to thinking about it during the performance. This read feels chilling, while maintaining a steady pace for the most part. Pearse has also done a great job at bringing an air of historical fiction to The Sanatorium. The Sanatorium is an atmospheric read that will transport the reader directly to the Swiss Alps, and Pearse does an excellent job of describing the setting and scenery. It seems like there will be a continuation with Elin Warner so maybe we will learn more about her in the future. While those are important things to learn about a character, it would’ve been nice to learn some other things about her. Elin is an interesting character, but it felt like there was a huge focus on her mental illness and past trauma and not so much about the rest of her. There is some character development that is lacking with all of the characters it felt like the reader only had the opportunity to learn about the characters on a surface level. Shortly after Elin and Will show up at the hotel Isaac's fiancée Laure goes missing, a wicked snowstorm threatens to cause avalanches in the area of Le Sommet, and Elin starts to feel like the hotel has some darker secrets. Elin Warner is a detective from the UK and she has come to Le Sommet with her boyfriend Will to celebrate her brother Isaac’s engagement. Pearse takes readers to the Swiss Alps where Le Sommet is located it was once a sanatorium that housed tuberculosis patients… and possibly something more sinister. Sarah Pearse’s debut novel The Sanatorium is a murder mystery that takes place in a five-star minimalist hotel called Le Sommet.

Book review the sanatorium