One by One by Ruth Ware - A book review
This book was an easy five stars. It's one of those books where you're just waiting for something to go wrong. The tension is already piano-wire tight and only tightens by the end. I didn't predict the murderer until the end setup made it obvious and said it outright. Let's get into it.
We have two perspectives in this whole book, both women. It reminded me of The Hitchcock Hotel or a modern twist on an Agatha Christie novel. Ware's a modern Agatha Christie. If you like Christie's stuff, you'll love this. Basic plot, a bunch of coworkers (all rich and kind of hipster) get snowed in after an accident on the slopes. As the lights go out, the heat wanes, and everyone gets more and more upset, things get worse. Someone is now dead in the chalet and they don't know who did it. Worse, help has not come, yet.
Spoiler territory
So, you want to be surprised by the culprit? Don't read on just yet. It was a twist that made sense and yet, took me by surprise. Please halt and come back. The book is riveting enough to finish in a day or two. Past this point, you will get spoilers.
I said, past this point you'd get spoilers. No going back if you've never read the book. Come back later.
Everyone ready? Let's slide down that slope and keep going.
The culprit reveal
This was a lot like The It Girl in one way; the culprit was the person no one paid attention to. It was actually one of our perspectives and a case of hiding information by switching back to Erin, the chalet hostess's, perspective. The other perspective is Liz, an ex-employee who's all but invisible to this group of rich, privileged people. The setup at the end made me realize what was happening. Tail-end, we get a situation where everyone but Liz and Erin are out getting help. Erin finds out that she's alone with the murderer at this time. It goes back and forth between their views, making it a piano-wire suspense at the end. Eventually, Erin shoves her broken ankle into a ski boot and gets on some skis to escape. A chase ensues, ending in Liz skiing into a stone because she didn't know the trail like Erin did.
The cast of characters
These characters are all coworkers, except for Liz who has voting power as a shareholder. They are considering a buyout, but the two heads of the company are on two different wavelengths. One says we need to or we all lose (and some stand to gain a lot of money), the other saying no to the buyout until they can add a nifty little feature he's not sharing information on. That feature tells them where Eva's body is later on, proving she is dead. Some of them are sleeping with each other, others afraid of each other. Everyone who treated Liz like an invisible person is being far too nice to her. Eva has dirt on her in order to control her (which you find out at the end of this book). Liz doesn't want to be here, but can't afford not to be. She is, in fact, the one who killed Eva by shoving her off a ledge.
You already know that the relationships here are a mess. It is made clearer than glass that this company is on the brink of being financially dead. Two leaders (ex-lovers) made an app that allows you to listen to what others listen to (Snoop). The new feature lets you track people (which proved Eva was in a snowpatch they couldn't reach). You watch the charismatic Topher become a hot mess as time goes on. You watch people die because they knew something. You watch two people go from friends to lovers during this time. This whole crew points fingers, yells at each other, drinks, and panics. The chalet is eventually out of power and cut off from everything. They get one distress call out and the person stated the wrong chalet. It is a bunch of people in a confined space, all getting real restless and trying to figure out at least two murders, some of them debating whether Eva's incident was an accident or a murder.
Closing Thoughts
Five stars, I loved it! I love Ruth Ware's stuff. That's two books I gave an easy five stars to. I think I have a new favorite author. She's a modern Agatha Christie. This has the same energy as And Then There Were None/ Ten Little Indians. Please read this for yourself. Even if you spoiled it for yourself.
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Morrow is coming out before Christmas 2025. This novella is the story of two women writing a family history for the Morrow family. They find a nasty secret while researching. Will they survive their internship? Find out when the book releases this year.
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