In a Dark Dark Wood

In a Dark Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

Published by Harvill Secker

30th July 2015

Hardback Edition

 

Someone's getting married. Someone's getting murdered.

In a dark, dark wood

Nora hasn't seen Clare for ten years. Not since Nora walked out of school one day and never went back.

There was a dark, dark house

Until, out of the blue, an invitation to Clare’s hen do arrives. Is this a chance for Nora to finally put her past behind her?

And in the dark, dark house there was a dark, dark room

But something goes wrong. Very wrong.

And in the dark, dark room....

Some things can’t stay secret for ever.

 

Ruth Ware's debut novel has had some mixed reviews out there on the internet but don't let that put you off reading it.  Okay, so it's not hard-hitting literature but it's not billing itself as the next Booker winner, and as anyone who knows me knows, I don't do pretentious writing, and more often than not, prize winning fiction, so for me this is sounding more and more my cup of tea, or crime novel, I should say!

Leonora hasn't seen her former best friend Clare in ten years.  They didn't part on good terms and Leonora has more or less forgotten about her.  One day she receives an email from a friend of Clare's who is organising her hen weekend - would Leonora please accept this invitation as it would mean the world to Clare?

As there is another friend going who she hasn't seen for ages either, Leonora, or Nora as she now goes by, agrees to turn up, and her and Nina go together to a remote house in the middle of nowhere, owned by Clare's friend Flo's aunt. 

The weekend doesn't start off quite as either of the girls anticipate.  Flo seems a little obsessed with both Clare and the whole concept of organising this hen weekend, and with the arrival of a gay thespian and a first-time mum, the party is ready and awaiting the arrival of Clare.

Things begin to go from bad to worse however, and I don't want to give away any of the plot here, but you know from the outset that things aren't going to go well for Leonora at the house, especially as the book is written from two periods of time - that of the hen weekend, and afterwards when Leonora is in hospital following a car accident where it appears that someone has died.

I did enjoy this book and kept turning the pages trying to work out which of the characters was really someone else instead - which of the guests could indeed be trusted?

If you enjoy crime novels,  and don't want to have to think too hard about what you are reading then you could do far worse than pick up a copy of In a Dark Dark Wood this summer.  Perfect for reading around the pool in my humble opinion.

 

Happy Reading

 

Miss Chapter x