The Ski Trip by Sarah Clarke

 

The Ski Trip by Sarah Clarke.

Published 14th September 2023 by HQ Digital.

From the cover of the book: 

The mountains are dangerous . . .
But their secrets are deadly.

THE PERFECT TRIP...

When four friends embark on a boys’ skiing holiday in the Alps, they anticipate a weekend of fun, drinking, and some healthy competition on the slopes. But their trip is cut short when one of them falls to his death.

A TERRIBLE ACCIDENT…

Tom’s widow, Zoe travels to France with her friend, Ivy to collect his body. While Zoe is consumed by grief, Ivy starts to question everything.

OR COLD-BLOODED MURDER?

The slope Tom fell from wasn’t dangerous, and tensions between the group were at breaking point in the days before his death.

But if Ivy’s suspicions are correct, Tom was killed by one of his closest friends. And they are still in the chalet…

***********

Four old friends head to the Alps for a skiing holiday, but their relaxing break ends in tragedy when one of them ends up dead. How Tom, an expert skier, managed to ski off the edge of an easy run and fall to his death is a mystery, but the police seem happy to put it down to a tragic accident caused by deteriorating weather.

Tom's widow, successful business woman, Zoe, arrives in the ski resort in the company of her friend Ivy, who is a meteorologist, to arrange repatriation of Tom's body. Zoe appears devastated by her loss and just wants to get through the next few days in one piece, but as soon as Ivy sets foot in the ski chalet she senses that something is not quite right, especially as one of the group is the last man she would have expected to be with successful doctors Tom, Rob and Justin, given their past history. 

Ivy is sure that there is more to this situation than meets the eye. Tom was the best skier she has ever known, and it seems unbelievable that he could have died in the way his friends say he did. But if Tom's death was not an accident, then she and Zoe are now under the same roof as his murderer...

Autumn brings with it the temptation of snuggling up with a twisty chiller, and The Ski Trip by Sarah Clarke is the perfect way to get snowy thriller season underway. A tragic death has occurred during a ski trip that was meant to bring four old friends together, and it soon becomes clear that a combination of long-held secrets, and the tension of recent events, may have combined to bring it about. 

The threads of the story largely unfurl through timelines from the university years of the characters, the days leading up to the tragedy in the Alps, and events in the present following Tom's death. The narration flips back and forth between Ivy, Zoe and Tom, in a masterclass of storytelling that gradually builds up a picture of how past and present have collided to bring about the moment that dictates Tom's destiny. There is such an air of Agatha Christie about how Clarke does this, as everyone here seems to have something to hide, and she perfectly judges how and when to cast the red herrings aside and reveal the shocking truth.

The twists and turns come at you with a speed that makes you feel you are careering down the trickiest of black runs, until a moment of horrific clarity out on the snowy mountainside finally slots everything into place, but it is the combination of gripping action and the way Clarke weaves in the fall-out from long-repressed emotions and the things left unsaid that makes this thriller so compelling. Every character here is painted in shades of grey, and she delves cleverly into what motivates them to do what they do - even when their behaviour is reprehensible. The darker emotions hold sway, with jealousy and the desire for revenge foremost, but there are underlying themes galore around father-daughter relationships, motherhood, expectation, mental health, the impact of grief, and healing too. I actually found myself tearing up at the end of this story, which was unexpected - before Clarke drops in the slickest of jaw-dropping parting gifts!

This book is an absolute cracker, and should absolutely be on your reading piles this autumn/winter. I am really looking forward to reading more from Sarah Clarke. 

The Ski Trip is available to buy now in paperback, ebook and audio formats now.

Thank you to HQ for sending me a Netgalley copy of this book in return for an honest review.

About the author:

Sarah Clarke loves reading psychological thrillers and has always dreamed of becoming an author in the genre, but she took her time getting here. After studying for a degree in Politics & International Relations, travelling the world for 6 years, and completing 5 ski seasons, she moved to London and became a copywriter, wife and mother. In 2018 she enrolled on the Faber Academy Writing a Novel course and finally learned the craft she loved. She joined HQ Digital in March 2021 and her debut novel A MOTHER NEVER LIES published later that year, quickly becoming a best-seller. Since then she has written EVERY LITTLE SECRET and MY PERFECT FRIEND. Her fourth thriller - THE SKI TRIP - publishes on 14th September 2023 and she is currently writing her fifth book, which will be out in spring 2024.