One By One

Ruth Ware is one of my favorite authors. Ever since I read her first book (The Lying Game), I have been hooked. To be fair, horror is my favorite genre, but to me, a good horror story is more than blood and gore. It’s about suspense, a growing sense of foreboding, a good who-dun-it, and finally, a satisfying ending. And “One by One” checked every one of those boxes. 

Taking place in a remote ski lodge in the Alps, nine people are stranded by an avalanche, cutting them off from the world and leaving them stranded with (of course) a murderer in their mix. Ware channels Agatha Christie’s great And Then There Were None here but with a modern take. Granted, I figured out who did it by the time I was 1/3 of the way through the book so it wasn’t the mystery that kept me reading; it was Ware’s excellent storytelling. While I didn’t like her other recent book, The Turn of the Key, and was beginning to worry Ware had slipped, this book firmly places her back in my Top Authors list. In fact, I could foresee this book being a contender on GoodReads 2020 Reader’s Choice Awards for mystery, and rightfully so. Thanks for a great story, Ms. Ware!