Book Review: In A Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

A couple of weeks ago, I put a hold on In A Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware at my local library. Totally forgetting that I had done this, I went into the library this past Saturday to pay a late fine from a few months ago, checked out a Chevy Stevens novel, and asked if they still had any sun glasses left for the total solar eclipse . . . They didn't have any left. While doing all this, they told me that they had a book on hold for me, which was the aforementioned book by Ruth Ware.

Like Ware's second novel, this novel read much like an Agatha Christie novel, and at one point, it reminded me of Ten Little Indians (also known as And Then There Were None). Much to my surprise, one of the characters mentioned that Agatha Christie book and how they felt like the location of the hen party reminded them of it. 

So, of course, I'm figuring there will be a murder, and I'm scraping my mind to remember who the killer was in Ten Little Indians, only to remember that someone came back from the dead. This didn't really seem like it was feasible for In A Dark, Dark Wood. Then, I thought of the novel The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and wondered if the killer could possibly be the narrator of the book. 

I never did correctly guess who the killer was . . . I kept changing my mind on who I thought the bad guy was throughout the entire book because there were enough twists and turns. Like Agatha Christie, the author left plenty of clues to figure out who it actually was . . . if you paid careful attention.

The beginning of the novel sounded like it was somewhat autobiographical of the author, so I wonder if it actually was. I always heard that authors tend to include tidbits of themselves, especially in their first novels, which this was Ruth Ware's first novel. 

Something that doesn't typically bother me is British slang, but for some reason, it really bothered me here. Of course, I knew a fag was slang for a cigarette, but referring to a bachelorette party as a hen party really threw me as did using sat nav for gps. There may have been more slang, but these two were the main ones that grated on my nerves. (I still don't get why they call it a hen party.)

All in all, I really enjoyed the book and definitely recommend it, especially to read during a thunderstorm. I was surprised at how well written it was for a first novel as well. With that being said, I liked The Woman in Cabin 10 a lot more.

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