The Woman In Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

Reviewed by Max

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In this intrigue-filled maritime mystery, journalist Laura (Lo) Blacklock is assigned to cover the maiden voyage of the Aurora, an exclusive cruise ship scheduled to provide its guests an elegantly cozy experience on the North Seas. Lo's assignment starts out as nothing but pleasant but, a few days in, she witnesses firsthand another, more controversial story to cover: a woman being thrown overboard. With all the passengers and crew members accounted for, a murderer in their midst, and the ship sailing further north as though nothing has happened, it's up to Lo alone to uncover the mystery of the Aurora before the voyage morphs from the assignment of her dreams into one of nightmares.

As a longtime lover of murder mysteries and nautical stories, I was more than willing to give The Woman In Cabin 10 a read under the recommendation of a coworker. The first three quarters of this book were thoroughly engaging in a way that gave my mystery-loving mind a difficult time putting it down. Unfortunately, the back-end of the title slowed down significantly, only picking the pace back up in the last dozen or so pages, and the change in tone, tempo, and substance during this part of the story fell flatter than I'd grown accustomed too.

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

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