July 2016

I had the pleasure of discovering --- and interviewing --- Ruth Ware months before her debut bestseller, IN A DARK, DARK WOOD, was published; it was a 2015 Bets On selection. Ruth was in the States from the UK for BookExpo America 2015, and we had a lovely chat in which she deftly explained her plotting and writing. You would never know from meeting her that she would write such twisted thrillers. I rather thought we would grab tea and look at photos of our kids. But clearly, behind the keyboard, she has a complete set of thriller chops.

I always look to sophomore novels from authors I love with trepidation, but Ruth nailed THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10 as well. Here the story is set on a small luxury liner instead of in a cabin in the woods. I always wanted to go on a luxury cruise, but I am not so sure about that after this read!

Our protagonist, Lo Blacklock, has the dream assignment to take a luxury cruise and report on it. But amidst the cocktails, the well-appointed rooms and the swells on board, something is awry. Lo borrows mascara from the woman next door to her in Cabin 10 on the first night, only to be told later that there is no passenger in that cabin. She is sure she saw someone wearing a Pink Floyd t-shirt, but where is that woman now?

The story rolls you up and down like a ship on the waves. Ruth again employs "a locked-in space with limited internet access" as a plot device --- and again it works. I’m looking forward to where she takes us in her next book!