In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Nora, a somewhat solitary London writer in her mid-20s, is surprised to receive an invitation to a hen do (bachelorette party) for her old high school friend Claire; she hasn’t seen Claire for 10 years, because Nora — for some mysterious reason not disclosed for some time, so be patient — up and abandoned her teenage life after something went horribly wrong with her first and true love, James. Mutual friend Nina is attending the hen, and after she reaches out to Nora, Nora decides to go too. The “party” isn’t quite what either imagined; they arrive at an isolated ultra modern glass house surrounded by forrest, not a cell phone tower in site. The only other hen guests are Claire, her obsessively supportive and emotional college pal Flo, playwright Tom, and new mom Melanie, who leaves soon after finding out the lack of reception will isolate her from her back-home hubbie and infant. Soon after arrival, Nora learns Claire asked her here because she wanted to tell her in person, she’s marrying James. This admission launches a downward spiral of a weekend that sides from uncomfortable to super creepy to downright deadly as one unlucky soul ends up dead. Whodunnit, and why? A satisfying page-turner.
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