In A Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware - Book Review

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 Today I'm reading another Ruth Ware book. Lenora, our main character, goes to a hen party under compulsion. Let's get into it. 



This book is Agatha Christie coded. A bunch of people are brought into an isolated area for a hen party. That hen party goes off the rails and one person leaves before the real crap hits the fan. Our main character is in a hospital, remembering what happened. She has a gap in her memory and the police are saying someone is dead. By the end we know what happened. Until then, we get flashbacks between hospital interviews. 

Our main character is Lenora, who goes by Nora and used to be called Lee. The frustrating thing is that she is being called Lee by our hen Clare who's getting married and Flo, the maid of honor. Flo is obsessed over "the perfect hen party" to a point that she's basically trying to control the social environment. After some jokes at her expense (a seance where they say "maxwell" says to "buy coffee" for example), she is angry beyond measure. They all think she's a bit insane. 

The crap hitting the fan is an intruder, who doesn't end up being an intruder at all. He's the groom - oops! And someone loaded the gun that "had only blanks in it for scaring rabbits". Oh, and this is a glass house in the middle of nowhere with bad phone reception. And someone cut the phone line. This is where our Lenora starts to get fuzzy on timeline. I won't spoil this one. The main mystery is who loaded the gun. 

Overall Thoughts

I loved it. Five stars for a good, modern Agatha Christie. You have a lot of red herrings (false clues), social tension, and tense situations. Flo alone was unhinged. Our main character had a past relationship with the groom. By the time the police come into play, you get the feeling someone set them up to shoot whoever walked in. 

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Morrow is released! 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? 

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