The Woman in Cabin 10

By Ruth Ware

From New York Times bestselling author of the “twisty-mystery” (Vulture) novel In a Dark, Dark Wood, comes The Woman in Cabin 10, an equally suspenseful and haunting novel from Ruth Ware—this time, set at sea.

In this tightly wound, enthralling story reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s works, Lo Blacklock, a journalist who writes for a travel magazine, has just been given the assignment of a lifetime: a week on a luxury cruise with only a handful of cabins. The sky is clear, the waters calm, and the veneered, select guests jovial as the exclusive cruise ship, the Aurora, begins her voyage in the picturesque North Sea.

At first, Lo’s stay is nothing but pleasant, but as the week wears on, frigid winds whip the desk, gray skies fall, and Lo witnesses what she can only describe as a dark and terrifying nightmare: a woman being thrown overboard. The problem? All passengers remain accounted for—and so, the ship sails on as if nothing has happened, despite Lo’s desperate attempts to convey that something (or someone) has gone terribly, terribly wrong...

With surprising twists, spine-tingling turns, and a setting that proves as uncomfortably claustrophobic as it is eerily beautiful, Ruth Ware offers up another taut and intense read in The Woman in Cabin 10—one that will leave even the most sure-footed reader restlessly uneasy long after the last page is turned.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Release date: Jan 3, 2017
• ISBN: 9781501151798

Ruth Ware

Ruth Ware worked as a waitress, a bookseller, a teacher of English as a foreign language, and a press officer before settling down as a full-time writer. She now lives with her family in Sussex, on the south coast of England. She is the #1 New York Times and Globe and Mail (Toronto) bestselling author of In a Dark, Dark Wood; The Woman in Cabin 10; The Lying Game; The Death of Mrs. Westaway; The Turn of the Key; One by One; The It Girl; and Zero Days. Visit her at RuthWare.com or follow her on Twitter @RuthWareWriter.

Reviews for The Woman in Cabin 10

[sgilbraith-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Liked the book more than I thought I would at the beginning. Interesting writing style which enhanced the suspense and aided in the misdirection and intrigue.

[pepperwings · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A British travel reporter takes a last-minute job to write a piece on a very fancy cruise, but before she leaves she has a frightening burglary in her home. Unfortunately this is only the first in a string of bad luck.This book is excellent, and it kept me guessing, I really enjoyed the setting and the mix of European culture and settings (as a cruise going up north to the fjords and such). An interesting group of passengers, although we don't get a lot of time with any of them, that is part of what keeps you guessing.

[chibitika-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fascinating mystery that will grab you and not let go. Very creative.

[howifeelaboutbooks · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I wanted to read this one because I read In a Dark, Dark Wood, and while I figured out the twist quite quickly, something about the writing style hooked me. I liked this book a lot because it was very suspenseful, but I have to say - I am SO TIRED of the female protagonists being portrayed as unreliable narrators. I feel like every other adult book I read has a woman one antidepressants or with a drinking history and she is always discredited for being unreliable. I really hope that trend ends and we get some quality female protagonists with other problems.

[readingover50 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I was super excited to read this. I am fascinated with cruise ships and I love mysteries, so it sounded perfect! The story concerns Lo Blacklock, a journalist for a travel magazine. She is given the job of attending the inaugural voyage of a luxury cruise ship, the Aurora. The ship only has 10 cabins, so it will be a small intimate voyage. Lo is given cabin number 9.

On the first evening on the ship, after a night of heavy drinking at the welcome party, Lo hears something thrown overboard from cabin 10 and becomes convinced it was a body. As she rushed to report it, she is told that cabin 10 is empty and has been so the whole time. Lo is sure of what she saw, but every one else begins to suspect it was her imagination. She sets out to solve the mystery.

I felt a similarity between this and The Girl on the Train. Both feature characters that have a drinking problem. Both have "unreliable" narrators. Why the authors feel the need to give the women so many problems I don't understand. The book would have been just as gripping if she didn't have a drinking problem.

Lo has a wonderful, kind, supportive boyfriend waiting for her back home. So of course, there is the obligatory "problem" with him. He wants to marry Lo, and she is not sure if she is ready for commitment. She picks a big fight with him right before she leaves for the cruise.

The mystery itself is interesting. Once it is solved, I thought it was obvious, but I didn't guess it beforehand so that is good. The ending felt a little bit unbelievable, but it was a satisfying ending. I enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it.

[suedutton_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Didn't love it, but it was fine. This is the one with the woman on the small cruise ship, with the mystery woman in Cabin 10.

[gma2lana · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A little slow in spots, but overall I enjoyed it.

[amalieturner · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is second of Ruth Ware's novels that I've read (I also read In a Dark, Dark Wood) and of the two, this one was better. I found her other book to be predictable and I figured out the twist ending very early on. I wasn't able to do that with this book. I had to wait until the twist was delivered to figure it out, but it wasn't an amazing Gone-Girl-esque reveal that really shocked me. I think this was partly due to the fact that there were so many characters that I often found it hard to know who was who since few of them had major roles and seemed to flit in and out of a scene as if we were supposed to know exactly who they were. The story seemed to have a drawn out build up and then everything seemed to fall in place at once. I read a lot of mystery/thriller type books and this definitely wasn't bad but I can't say it was amazing either. I wanted very badly to like Ware's writing, but for me, she falls back on too many cliques and overused sentence structures. The very ending was what really made feel meh about this book. I really didn't hate this book, overall I enjoyed the read but I'm always striving for a novel that shocks me to my core and this novel just wasn't it. It was a decent read I will definitely suggest to friends but with fair warning that Ware's writing style is a bit basic for my taste.

[beth.clarke · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

After reading the reviews my expectations were high for The Woman in Cabin 10. It was okay. The twists weren't that grand and the ending was too much of a surprise.

[trayceetee · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I listened to the audio copy of the book-- excellent narrator!
Despite the fact that there was tragedy upon this "boutique" cruise, I couldn't keep myself from looking up information on luxury criuses--bucket list item, for sure!!!
This was another one of those stories I just couldn't stop listening to--loved the writing and the storyline, and OH EM GEE, did I ever adore Lo Blacklock! I wanna be besties with her!!!

[cassie.peters1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Twists and turns make for fun reading.

[romonko · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I decided to read this earlier book by Ruth Ware after reading and enjoying the Death of Mrs. Westaway which i enjoyed very much. I did not enjoy this book nearly as much unfortunately. I didn't find the story nearly as compelling nor as exciting. It probably was because I didn't care for Laura (Lo) Blacklock. I never did feel sympathetic for her plight at all. She didn't seem real to me either. Can anyone be that scattered and confused? The book's plot was also quite weak. I did not find that the tension and suspense built up at all throughout the book. I was quite disappointed with this book, but I did finish it, so therefore I gave it 2 stars. I kept hoping it would get better.

[courtneygiraldo · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Two days before a career changing business trip aboard the luxury cruise liner, Auroras, maiden voyage, Lo Blacklocks London flat is broken into and burgled. Lo, writer for the travel magazine, Velocity, is shaken but not harmed and despite her sleep deprived state (who can sleep comfortably after a break in?) she packs her bags and boards the vessel in what is promised to be 5 days of top of the line luxury cruising. After perhaps one too many drinks, while sleeping fitfully in her cabin on the first night, Lo hears a scream from the cabin next door, and the distinguishable sound of a body hitting the water outside. Rushing to her balcony she can make out the body of a woman sinking beneath the waves. Immediately calling staff security, they are confused with her desperate attempts to explain what she heard/saw. No one had been assigned to cabin 10, the investor who was slated for that room cancelled last minute and it remains unoccupied. But that doesn’t explain who the woman was Lo saw in the room before dinner, the one who lent her some mascara. And she is certain she heard that scream and splash. As Lo starts digging, someone tries to thwart her every move. Stuck out at sea, Lo is trapped on board with a killer, but who? And who was the woman in cabin 10?This was like a modernized version of Murder on the Orient Express. Stuck in the middle of the ocean on a small luxury cruiser, the suspects are obviously very limited. Lo’s profession as a journalist and thus her investigative nature obviously lends well to the plot. There are some amazing “ah-ha!” moments that are honestly really just masterful. I was engaged, enthralled, and enraptured the entire time. The two fold mystery of who the woman was (and why no one knew she was aboard) as well as who killed her (and why) had my gears working double time trying to fit the pieces together (I definitely didn’t fit them together either haha). Ware did a good job of making Lo just unreliable enough (drinking, lack of sleep, mental health history, recent burglary that set her on edge) that the stone walls she kept running into with the security officer and other passengers was plausible. And let’s face it, her gender helped too; women are all too often thought to be hysterical or over-imaginative Overall this read was thrilling and suspenseful, the perfect mix of intrigue and conspiracy. I have officially now read all of Wares books and CAN’T WAIT for her 2019 publication The Turn of the Key.

[carlathelibrarian · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I am really confused about the rating for this book. I think I settled on a 3.5 stars. One thing was that all the reviews I had read had me thinking great things and then it was not great. It is a good read, but not a great one.

Laura, Lo, Blacklock works as a writer for a travel magazine. When her boss ends up under the weather due to pregnancy, Lo is given the opportunity to go on a cruise for a a new luxury ship, the Aurora Borealis, and write an article for the magazine. Sounds wonderful. From the beginning, Lo has one rotten experience after another. The night before she is to leave, her apartment is broken into with her in it. Getting no sleep, being hungover and suffering PTSD, her cruise does not get off to a good start. Once again, drinking a bit too much the first night on board, she has a fitful sleep. Waking in the middle of the night, she hears a splash and when she runs out to her balcony, she is sure she sees a body sinking under the water. Sure it is the woman in the cabin next door, she calls security. When the chief of security listens to her story, he takes her to Cabin 10, which they find clean and empty. Lo is confused as she had knocked in the door earlier in the evening and met her neighbour. No one believes what she is sure she saw, so forgetting about the reason she is on the ship, she begins to ask questions and snoop around. Trouble has no trouble finding Lo.

I do not want to give away anymore of the plot, but suffice it to say, Lo is going to have more than her share of difficulties on this cruise. The suspense builds quite nicely, then quickly switches gears and comes to a quick end. Lo realizes that she needs to be strong and fight for herself because no one else is around to help her. The secondary characters are not really fleshed out, but that is okay as they are only supporting characters. A book that will hook you, if only to find our what happens to Lo. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley.

[flourgirl49 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I thought this was a pretty good read, although the ending could have been fleshed out a lot more so that we would know specifically what happened to all of the characters and not just Laura Blacklock. Another book that would probably make a good movie.

[jothebookgirl · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The Woman in Cabin 10, by Ruth Ware

The setting is this book is on a small cruise ship in The North Sea. The story is suspenseful and at times a bit haunting.

Lo Blacklock is a journalist who writes for a travel magazine,and has just been given the assignment of a lifetime: a week on a small luxury cruise ship with only 10 cabins. The sky is clear, the waters calm, and select guests excited as the exclusive cruise ship begins her maiden voyage in the picturesque North Sea. The ship has been christened The Aurora. The cabins are plush, the dinner parties are sparkling, and the guests are elegant. But as the week wears on, frigid winds whip the deck, gray skies fall, and Lo witnesses what she can only describe as a dark and terrifying nightmare: a woman being thrown overboard in the cabin next to hers. She immediately reports the incident and the mystery begins. All passengers on ship remain accounted for, so, the ship sails on as if nothing has happened, despite Lo s desperate attempts to convey that something has gone terribly, terribly wrong. Cabin 10 was to be occupied, but the occupant cancelled at the last minute. Yet, just before going to dinner, Lo went into cabin 10 to borrow from a woman a mascara in a green and pink tube. Fortunately, Lo still has this in her possession. This is evidence, right? Mysteriously though, her only piece of evidence disappears from her cabin. As Lo is taken through cabin 10 to prove it has never been occupied, she sees that nothing is out of place and there are no personal belongs there as there had been when she borrowed the mascara.
The story slows down at this point, but the mystery is so great that you will certainly continue reading. Then toward the end, the story zooms into pace that you can barely keep up with surprising twists.

[jessicamhill · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Ruth Ware's The Woman in Cabin 10 was par for the course for the mystery genre, with uninspiring writing but an interesting and fast-moving plot. The characters were either not very well developed or downright annoying, as was the case with the heroine. I did enjoy the book overall and wasn't disappointed, given I had a pretty good sense of what I was getting myself into. I do think it will make for good cinema.

[rochellejones · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a great story. Nice thriller.Well written, good plot, well developed characters, and just enough missing pieces to keep me guessing to the end.While I love a story with a good strong and independent female character, this female protagonist is not in that category. That's not to say she wasn't strong or independent in her own right, just that she's no Lara Croft. I feel as though Laura Blacklock's actions are based more in reality though. It's believable that a regular woman would be frightened, overwhelmed, but determined to survive in a situation like the book presents.It was a good book. I enjoyed this story through to the end.

[thebentley · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A different kind of mystery novel with a lot of twists and turns. Very atmospheric, and very successful at making an opulent cruise ship a threatening environment in which no one can be trusted. The restricted cast of characters is reminiscent of Agatha Christie. A quick read, which makes it great vacation reading for mystery buffs.

[deslivres5 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I would have given a 5-star review of The Woman in Cabin 10 if it wasn't for the main character, Lo Blacklock. I listened to the audiobook and I don't think it was the reader's delivery coming in to play at all: The main character, Lo Blacklock, is just really, really irritating, both in deeds and words. She continually is saying she shouldn't do something, and then goes ahead and does it again. I just wanted to give her a good shake.The whodunnit kept me guessing, even after the big reveal. There were still some plot aspects which I don't think were cleared up and I wished they had been (can't say any more).Regarding the audiobook, Imogene Church did the various accents well. I especially liked Judah's New Yorker voice. But many of the British male voices (Cole and Ben especially) seemed "whiny/whingy" and "bumbling" to me.

[nhnick · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

After forcing myself through half of this book I decided there are just too many books out there to continue. I had no interest in the main character, or any of the characters for that matter. I usually love a mystery but this was just annoying and repetitive.

[smcgovern-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

No one would believe her about splash and some one going overboard, plot thickens, a little silly story line, would not recommend

[lmjenkins · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book kept me in a tense state until I could figure out what was going on.....I felt slightly let down at that point, but was very engaged for most of the read.

[carmenere_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I'm having a like/hate relationship with this book. Hate it because it is so similar to another book I have mediocre feelings for, The Girl on the Train. An unreliable, irritating, nosy protagonist is involved with what appears to be a murder. Hate it because if, said protagonist, Laura (Lo) Blacklock, that shortened name makes me cringe, said "stupid, stupid, very stupid" or "drunk, very drunk" one more time I would toss this book overboard.Like it because the setting is an unfamiliar one, a luxury yacht cruising Norwegian fjords. Perhaps, it was a bit of ambiguity that kept me reading till the end. Ultimately, it's a thriller wannabe, but the snooty characters make it a I really don't care.

[writertomg · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Kinda similar-ish to The Girl on the Train, but really good!

[eadieb-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Book DescriptionFrom New York Times bestselling author of the “twisty-mystery” (Vulture) novel In a Dark, Dark Wood, comes The Woman in Cabin 10, an equally suspenseful and haunting novel from Ruth Ware—this time, set at sea.In this tightly wound, enthralling story reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s works, Lo Blacklock, a journalist who writes for a travel magazine, has just been given the assignment of a lifetime: a week on a luxury cruise with only a handful of cabins. The sky is clear, the waters calm, and the veneered, select guests jovial as the exclusive cruise ship, the Aurora, begins her voyage in the picturesque North Sea. At first, Lo’s stay is nothing but pleasant: the cabins are plush, the dinner parties are sparkling, and the guests are elegant. But as the week wears on, frigid winds whip the deck, gray skies fall, and Lo witnesses what she can only describe as a dark and terrifying nightmare: a woman being thrown overboard. The problem? All passengers remain accounted for—and so, the ship sails on as if nothing has happened, despite Lo’s desperate attempts to convey that something (or someone) has gone terribly, terribly wrong…With surprising twists, spine-tingling turns, and a setting that proves as uncomfortably claustrophobic as it is eerily beautiful, Ruth Ware offers up another taut and intense read in The Woman in Cabin 10—one that will leave even the most sure-footed reader restlessly uneasy long after the last page is turned.My ReviewI found this book to be a quite a page-turner. I did, however, find a lot of the story to be unbelievable but it did make for a good fiction story. I think the characters were a little under-developed and hard to identify with but the plot did hold my attention. I look forward to reading more of Ruth Ware's books, especially In a Dark, Dark Wood which I have on order from my library. In the meantime, I am going to try her new release, The Lying Game. I would, however, recommend this book to those who like psychological thrillers.

[clamato_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

One of the best books I read in 2017! Kept me guessing and thrilled to the end.

[shazjhb · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Exciting book

[andsoitgoes_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Meh. Saw the ending coming.

[seasonsoflove_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Title: The Woman in Cabin 10Author: Ruth WareGenre: Psychological Thriller/MysteryPublication Date: July 10, 2016Recommended If You Like: In a Dark Dark Wood, (possibly) unreliable narrators, female narrators, twists and turns, isolated and claustrophobic locations, the classic killer is one of us tropeI received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book or my review itself.In In a Dark Dark Wood, Ruth Ware took her readers to an isolated cabin full of tension and secrets. In The Woman in Cabin 10, the setting is a luxury cruise ship, and the protagonist a female reporter who has just suffered a traumatic event.Lo Blacklock is hoping that a trip on the Aurora will not only allow her to move up the ladder at her paper, but also provide a much needed respite from real life. But then she witnesses what she swears is a body being thrown overboard. All the passengers are accounted for, and the others on the boat seem to discount Lo's story, leaving Lo to question even herself.Ruth Ware has found a niche in the recent upswing of psychological thrillers with unreliable narrators, and she is running with it beautifully.This niche is isolated, claustrophobic settings, described so vividly that you feel as if you are trapped there with her characters. While this is not always the most pleasant of feelings, I think that's the point. What the characters are feeling and experiencing is not pleasant either, and Ware is an expert at making readers feel like every action and reaction is immediate and immensely important.This does not mean reading Ware's books is an unpleasant experience, by any means. Ware has quickly become one of my favorite psychological thriller writers for the exact reason that she is so good at building up unbearable suspense. If you have any other plans, wait to pick up any of Ware's books. You won't be doing anything but reading once you start.