The Woman in Cabin 10

May 9, 2016
In Ware’s underwhelming sophomore mystery (after 2015’s In a Dark, Dark Wood), Laura “Lo” Blacklock thinks stepping in for her pregnant boss for a week-long jaunt on the new miniature cruise ship Aurora will give her a leg up at Velocity, the magazine where she’s toiled for years. A break-in at her London flat days before her departure does little more than set up Lo as an easily startled protagonist. Everything on the Aurora is sparkly and decadent, from the chandeliers to the wealthy guests, most of whom are either fellow travel writers or investors brought on by owner Lord Richard Bullmer, but Lo is distracted from the scenery—the ship is headed for a tour of the Norwegian fjords—by her certainty that she heard the unmistakable sound of a body hitting the water from the adjacent cabin. No one, unsurprisingly, believes her, or buys her story of a mysterious woman she saw lurking on the ship hours earlier. Those expecting a Christie-style locked-room mystery at sea will be disappointed. Agent: Eve White, Eve White Literary (U.K.).

February 15, 2016

Ware's debut thriller, In a Dark Dark Wood, was newbie imprint Scout's first book and a huge hit, making the LibraryReads Top Ten list last August. It was also a New York Times, USA Today, and Los Angeles Times best seller that got multiple best book and best summer book nods, and it will soon hit the big screen. In Ware's second novel, travel journalist Lo Blacklock is enjoying her all-expenses-paid luxury cruise around the Norwegian fjords until she awakens one night to hear a splash. Was that a body being thrown overboard?

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from July 1, 2016
Just before departing on a career-making assignment, travel writer Lo Blackstock endures a terrifying home invasion that brings the debilitating panic attacks she thought she'd conquered back in force. Still, Lo joins luxury-cruise magnate Lord Richard Bullmer on the maiden voyage of his new liner, along with a handful of jet-setters and travel-publishing elite. The first night onboard, Lo is awakened by a scream and a heavy splash from the next cabin and she alerts Security that the neighbor she met briefly that evening has been attacked. But everyone on board denies that the woman was ever there, and Lo is painted as a hysteric, especially after her anxiety medication is brought to light. With the memory of her own attack so near, Lo refuses to stop questioning the woman's disappearance, even in the face of career devastation and anonymous threats. The isolated setting and social alienation (also well played in Ware's debut, In a Dark, Dark Wood, 2015) combine with Lo's deteriorating mental state to generate a dark, desperate tension that will appeal to Ware's and Gillian Flynn's many fans. This is the perfect summer read for those seeking a shadowy counter to the sunshine.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)