Obsessed with Ruth Ware

While browsing at our school's Spring Book Fair, I came across The Death of Mrs. Westaway.  I'd never heard of Ruth Ware, and the back cover of this book didn't exactly provide a summary of the book - which normally irritates me.  I don't like when it's just a bunch of endorsement quotes from random authors (though I admit that I have bought books in the past based on endorsements from random authors).  But, I think I liked the cover, and was in the mood for a creepy mystery.  So, I took my chances.  And, I'm very glad that I did.

The book opens with the passing of Mrs. Westaway, and a strange letter to a girl named Hal telling her that she is a beneficiary in Mrs. Westaway's will.  Hal is convinced they have contacted the wrong person, but deeply in debt following the death of her mother, with only her income as a tarot card reader to rely on, Hal responds to the letter in the hopes of swindling her way into an inheritance.  When she arrives at the will reading purporting to be a long lost niece, she finds that she hasn't just be given a small amount of money - instead, Mrs. Westaway had bequeathed her an entire estate.  As Hal attempts to come to terms with her deception, she finds that nothing is quite as it seems, and as her own lies begin to unravel, so do the secrets kept by her own mother and her connections to the strange Mrs. Westaway.  This book was suspenseful and creepy - not the kind of thing I wanted to be reading on my own late at night, but completely unable to put down.  When it was finally over, I requested all of Ruth Ware's books from the library right away!

The Woman in Cabin 10:  This one seems to be the most well-known of Ware's novels.  A young travel writer is assaulted in her apartment on the eve of one of her biggest assignments.  Still reeling from the trauma, she boards a luxury yacht and begins mingling with the exclusive clientele.  On her first night at sea, she's convinced she seems someone in the cabin next to her throw a body overboard.  And yet, everyone on the boat appears alive and accounted for.  As she insists on convincing others that a tragedy has occurred, her own sanity is called into question - and she begins to wonder if she really saw something, or if it has all been a trick of her hypervigilant imagination.  As with many of these books, there was some sense of irritation as a reader - the main character is incredibly unlikeable - while she has a right to be distrustful and shaken due to the traumatic experience in the opening chapter, her rudeness and social awkwardness seem unrealistic.  Or maybe completely realistic - just obnoxious.  She also makes some odd choices in terms of who to share information with, and what information to share -but given the circumstances and her increasing paranoia, perhaps this makes sense.  It just becomes a little frustrating.  From an entertaining/thriller perspective, this was another enjoyable read.

The Lying Game: The premise of this one is a bit annoying from the start - a group of four private school girls play a game to see who can get away with the most lies.  From the start you know these girls are mostly self-centered brats...but they've grown up and suddenly one of them needs the others to come to her rescue. It's clear some sort of death/murder/foul play has occurred, but no one is telling the complete truth.  The four women spend several days together in a remote beach house, reliving their pasts, and trying to understand what or who is out to uncover their darkest secret (which we only understand in bits and pieces through the book).  If this had been my first Ruth Ware novel, I may not have come back for more, but while not particularly liking any of the characters, I found it to be a generally good story - a bit creepy, as with her others, always a few moments of dread to keep the story going.  And, I did want to read to the end to find out how it all wrapped up.

In a Dark, Dark Wood: Nora wakes up in the hospital one day and can't quite remember what's happened.  It's clear there's been an accident, but why is there a police officer sitting outside her room?  The book flashes back to Nora agreeing to attend the bachelorette party of a friend from school that she hasn't seen in over 10 years - why she's been invited is a mystery, but her curiosity gets the better of her.  She trudges out to a house (in the dark, dark woods) with the bride to be and several other friends. Nora is a runner, who doesn't seem to mind running alone at dusk in an area she's not at all familiar with - an area that doesn't appear to get very good cell phone service - clearly a recipe for impending disaster.  With Ware's usual twists and turns, this one kept me guessing until the end in a fun (and creepy) way. 

I read through these four books in less than a month, so it may be time for me to take a break from Ware.  I think she has one more available for me at the library, The Turn of the Key.  I've requested it and look forward to reading it in a well-lit crowded area when it comes in.