Lo Blacklock, a journalist who writes for a travel magazine, has just been given the assignment of a lifetime: a week on a luxury cruise with only a few cabins. The sky is clear, the waters calm, and the veneered, select guests jovial as the exclusive cruise ship, the Aurora, begins her voyage in the picturesque North Sea.
At first, Lo’s stay is pleasant: the plush cabins, the dinner parties sparkling, and the guests elegant.
But as the week wears on, frigid winds whip the deck, gray skies fall, and Lo witnesses what she can only describe as a dark and terrifying nightmare: a woman being thrown overboard.
The problem? All passengers remain accounted for, so the ship sails on as if nothing has happened, despite Lo’s desperate attempts to convey that something (or someone) has gone wrong.
~ Synopsis from GoodReads
The Woman in Cabin 10: My Thoughts
Ruth Ware is commonly thought of as a modern-day Agatha Christie. And I get why she’s called that. She is a British writer who uses some common Christie tropes, and I mentioned that one particular twist in The It Girl is vintage Christie.
So, going into a Ruth Ware book, I expect to love it as much as I do a Christie whodunnit. I now realize this expectation is wrong because The Woman in Cabin 10 was unbearable.
Which is odd, because it’s quite highly regarded. It’s quite high up on the top ten Ruth Ware book lists.
Still, I wouldn’t recommend this book. Why?
- Too Trope-y The main character Lo has anxiety issues; she develops PTSD after a break-in in her house. In short, she’s being set up as an unreliable narrator, who has difficulty convincing people that she has witnessed a murder. Now, I have no issue with tropes – but I think this was done far better with The Girl on the Train, and even The Woman in the Window.
- Unlikeable main character This was even harder to accept. Lo just came across as so high-strung and unsympathetic. She drinks like a fish; it’s hard to believe how she is even functional. Also, as the book progressed, I expected some growth in her character, but she’s still pretty one-dimensional – exhausted and anxious. That’s it.
- The murder mystery This book swings wildly between a locked room murder mystery and a wild chase through the countryside thriller – neither angle was properly developed, IMO.
- Unresolved Clues There were so many interesting clues scattered throughout the book, but nothing was resolved satisfactorily. There were some huge gaps! Who broke into Lo’s apartment? Was it the same person who broke into that investor’s house? Was it to have an empty cabin? But that could have been easily resolved by not booking the full boat.
The murder, when it was eventually solved, felt very Christie-esque, but no way would she have written such a sloppy book.
Overall, this book doesn’t have any exciting imagery or characters that held my interest. The only character I did root for was short-lived with an unclear motive and resolution. Ruth Ware tried, but this was a lackluster read. I suggest you skip it.
