My Review of the Woman in Cabin 10 will include a quick rundown of the book, including its main tropes and elements, my overall thoughts, and SPOILERS for the ending of the book!
The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
- Published on June 30 2016 by Gallery/Scout.
- I read this book in June 2016. Thanks to the publisher for providing an advance review copy.
- Goodreads Choice and BOTM nominee for Best Mystery and Thriller of 2016
Jen’s Quick Take on The Woman in Cabin 10
- A (somewhat) unreliable narrator
- A fun variation of a locked room mystery
- On my list of Travel Thrillers on Airplanes Boats Trains and Cars
- Had some eye-rolling stuff, but Lo was a great character
- Epistolary elements, which I really enjoyed!
My Review of The Woman in Cabin 10
Travel journalist Laura “Lo” Blackstock is thrilled to get an assignment that involves a week at sea. After a mysterious break-in at her flat, she’s a bit frazzled and needs to relax.
But as the cruise ship Aurora sets off into the North Sea, Lo is terrified when she hears a scuffle outside her balcony and what sounds like a body being tossed overboard. But the crew insists that not one passenger is missing.
Lo disagrees: she met the woman in the cabin next door. But no one knows who she is.
Is Lo just suffering from stress, or is something terribly wrong on the Aurora?
I love psychological thrillers and really enjoyed The Woman in Cabin 10!
The Woman in Cabin 10 has a lot of the elements that I like in a good psychological suspense story:
- Claustrophobic setting
- Slightly off-balance heroine
- Gaslighting
Claustrophobia? Check! The Women in Cabin 10 has a locked room feel! The Aurora isn’t a giant Princess cruise ship, but a small vessel with only a dozen cabins total. There’s a limited cast of characters, all trapped together on their voyage of DOOM…..
Unreliable narrator? Check! Lo had a break-in at her flat right before she set sail and her nerves are a little jangled. So when she thinks she sees something horrible, maybe she’s just imagining it!
Gaslighting? Check! As Lo’s a bit rattled about the break-in, she begins to doubt herself.
There were a few things about The Woman in Cabin 10 that weren’t perfect.
When Lo finds a very important clue to the missing woman (and knows it!) she doesn’t hang onto this item. Instead, she leaves it sitting around in her cabin … where it promptly disappears.
Also, the killer writes threatening messages to Lo in fogged bathroom mirrors, which seems like something that belongs in a Lifetime TV movie.
But overall there was a lot to like about The Woman in Cabin 10
I found Lo an appealing and sympathetic protagonist
I thought the epistolary elements improved the story! While I don’t always like the inclusion of epistolary elements like emails and texts in a story, I loved the way that this book intensified the suspense by including the increasingly worried texts and social media postings of Lo’s friends and significant other, who are back in the UK wondering why she isn’t answering their messages.
The story does a good job of setting up clues – I was close to figuring out what was going on…
Even though this takes place in the frigid waters of the North Sea, I recommend this as a great summer beach read – I got the chills a few times!
Spoilers for The Woman in Cabin 10
- Carrie thinks she loves Lord Richard Bullmer, the married man she’s having an affair with. The plan was for her to impersonate Anne (a cancer patient) so that they could have a trip together.
- This is a little confusing but the real Anne WAS on the Aurora for the first night, but was planning to leave after one day to go back home to Norway.
- But by coincidence, Anne discovers her husband’s affair. She and Richard fight, and he pushes her and she dies. (This is all by hearsay from Richard to Carrie to Lo, so who really knows. Carrie says the plan was to have Anne die at home in bed so I guess he planned to murder her in Norway?
- Then Richard puts Anne’s body in a suitcase and gets Carrie to throw it overboard.
- But Lo seeing Carrie in the room next door and then hearing a body being dumped overboard and messes up the plan.
- Carrie is the one trying to warn Lo to stop meddling and finally Bullmer realizes he needs Lo out of the picture and has Carrie help hold Lo prisoner in an empty cabin. My question: why didn’t he just eliminate Lo at this point? She was coming off as a mentally unstable wreck and he could have staged it to look like she took her own life.
- Lo’s family is told that she is dead. Meanwhile, Anne’s body turns up and the authorities wonder if it’s Lo’s body.
- Finally, Carrie’s guilt overwhelms her and she realizes that Bullmer is evil. Carrie and and Lo switch clothes. Carrie asks Lo to rough her up a bit and Lo overdoes it. Carrie tells Lo to sneak off the boat dressed as Anne Bullmer and go for help.
- Lo jumps off the boat, swims to shore, and (after a mishap where she nearly gets caught) is finally rescued by a friendly Norwegian.
- When Lord Bullmer’s body and his wife’s bodies are found, everyone assumes he killed her and then himself.
- But actually, Carrie shot Richard, tossed him overboard, and escaped. We know Carrie is alive because she wired Lo the money with the code “Tiggers bounce,” as Carrie told Lo that her mother used to call her Tigger.
What did you think of The Woman in Cabin 10? Tell me in comments!