Ruth Ware Archives – Carol's Notebook

One by One by Ruth Ware

September 3, 2020June 16, 2020 by Carol1 Comment

They keep comparing Ruth Ware to Agatha Christie, so I keep reading her books and keep getting a bit disappointed. I will say One by One is definitely better than the other two I've read, and I enjoyed it for the most part. The setting in One by One is perfect. The group is at a ski chalet but there's an avalanche that isolates them from the rest of the world. The electricity is out, there's not cell phone service, and the door has buckled with the weight of the snow. And one of them is dead after having taken a dangerous trail down the mountain just as everything was being shut down. And then another person dies, pretty clearly a murder this time. I love the claustrophobic feel of the whole situation and the pressure of not knowing who the killer is, just knowing you're stuck in the house with one. There are a lot of characters in the...

The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware

May 28, 2018May 25, 2018 by Carol6 Comments

I read Ware's In A Dark, Dark Wood a couple of years ago and was underwhelmed. At the time, however, I wrote "I think she's an author worth giving another chance, even if this book had problems." I'd been hearing a lot of positive things and The Death of Mrs. Westaway seemed like one of the to-read books of this summer. I just don't think I'm ever going to be a Ruth Ware fan. Hal is a bit desperate. She owns money to a loan shark and is barely (not quite) making end meet as a tarot card reader. Out of the blue comes a letter about an inheritance. Hal knows it must be a mistake, but she's out of options, so she takes the gamble and heads out to Trepassen House. I liked Hal for the most part. She's a survivor. And the atmosphere at Trepassen House was appropriately spooky and gothic. I guess, maybe Ware can be a bit heavy-handed and...

In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

May 30, 2016May 23, 2016 by Carol2 Comments

Did you read the blurb above? It sounds really good, doesn't it? First off, i like house party murder mysteries, so the glass house in the middle of the woods with a small cast of characters appealed to me. Add an unreliable narrator and secrets of the past and it should have been a winner. Unfortunately, all the characters were annoying and juvenile and the big surprise wasn't that surprising. I didn't care about Nora and found her agreement to go to the party unlikely. Add in her obsession with a high school boyfriend character and she was just a pretty sad character who I didn't relate to or sympathize. Actually, I was hoping for a final twist that took into account her knowledge from crime writing, but no, she just puts herself in a dangerous position alone with the killer like so many amateur female detectives. Really, when will they learn to at least tell someone where they're going? I...