Review: In a Dark Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

This has been on my to be read pile so long I felt it was starting to look at me reproachfully. I have no idea why, other than I mostly read on Kindle these days and I bought it in paperback. I'm also a bit wary about reading psychological suspense/thrillers, as they are not my favourite genre - too many similar plots! However, this one had my brain tied in knots so I thoroughly enjoyed it!

The story is about Nora, who is invited to a hen party at a remote house in Northumberland. The 'hen' is Clare, a school friend whom she hasn't spoken to in ten years. And of course it all goes horribly wrong and someone ends up dead. I did think it might end up being like one of those movies, where each character is killed off one at a time, but it isn't. The author even makes a sly reference to the Agatha Christie story, And Then There Were None. Several times I thought I knew what was going on and what was going to happen next, only to discover the author had been deliberately misleading me. Sneaky!

I worked out what was going on before Nora, but only because I'd been tricked so many times I started concentrating harder! I don't want to go into too much detail about the plot, because of spoilers. So I'll just say that I really liked the setting - a modern house called The Glass House, hidden away in a dark, dark wood. I liked the characters, particularly Nina, who had a great line in sarcasm. The only thing I wasn't keen on was that parts of the story were quite sad, particularly relating to Nora's past relationships. But overall I really enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone who loves reading psychological suspense, and stories such as Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train.