Book Review: ‘The Chateau’ by Catherine Cooper

I devoured Cooper’s first novel, ‘The Chalet’ in one sitting during a heatwave – and I’m pleased to report that ‘The Chateau’ was every bit as gripping! This is another one that I sailed through with remarkable speed.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book is about a couple Aura and Nick, who buy a French chateau with a view to renovating it and running a chambes d’hotes business in order to support their young family. What begins as an ambitious plan soon becomes something much more dangerous as they meet the locals and their past threatens to come back to haunt them. A camera crew documenting their renovation project adds to the complications – as do some unexplained and spooky events…

I went into this book not knowing at all what it was about or where it was going – and I think this is the best way. Put yourselves in Cooper’s capable hands and enjoy the twists and turns as they occur. I liked the fact that there were several narrators over the course of the novel as this worked well to uncover the truth about the different characters and their motivations.

As with Cooper’s last book, there are few likeable characters here. If you are a reader who needs someone to root for in a book, perhaps this isn’t for you! However, if you enjoy characters with depth and a past being revealed slowly – in all their horrific glory – then this could be right up your street. The psychological thriller game is strong with this one and I found myself genuinely shocked by some of the revelations.

The setting – like in ‘The Chalet’ – also lends itself perfectly to the story. The remote chateau and the small community of expats means we have a limited cast list from which to choose our culprits. This works well and I still failed to guess who and why!

I’d recommend this to readers of crime and thriller fiction – if you loved ‘The Chalet’ (or mysteries by Ruth Ware, Lucy Foley or Lisa Jewell), there is definitely lots for you to like here. I’d definitely suggest you avoid reading detailed synopses before you dive in – let the events wash over you and you are in for an absolute treat.

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Header photo by M on Unsplash