Review by Booklist Review
Fans of The Woman in Cabin 10 who might have wondered whatever happened to Laura "Lo" Blacklock will find the answers here. It has been ten years since her disastrous cruise on the Aurora, when she witnessed a murder and almost got herself killed. She managed to turn her trauma into a best-seller, Dark Waters, but since then, she has married and is living in New York City with her husband and two young sons. Believing that her career as a travel journalist is pretty much over, she is surprised when she receives an invitation to attend the press opening of a luxury Swiss hotel. Lo's fans will be ecstatic at her decision to accept, which of course leads to yet another death-defying adventure for her, but readers who are not so keen on embracing the somewhat improbable might struggle with the ensuing drama. The original book was adapted into a Netflix film starring Keira Knightley, set to debut next autumn, and likely to spark interest in this sequel for new fans.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Journalist Lo Blacklock falls back under the sway of an old acquaintance in bestseller Ware's solid sequel to The Woman in Cabin 10. A decade after Lo nearly drowned on a Norwegian cruise, she's a happily married mother of two. Looking for a big story to jump-start her stagnant career, she eagerly accepts an invitation to the opening of reclusive billionaire Marcus Liedman's new luxury hotel on Switzerland's Lake Geneva. Once she arrives, however, she's startled to find several fellow passengers from her ill-fated Norwegian cruise, along with a smarmy food critic, a wolfish photographer, and an ex-boyfriend she can't stand. Most troublingly, she encounters Carrie, the untrustworthy woman who saved her life in Norway. Carrie entreats Lo to help her escape from Marcus, who she claims is holding her against her will. Torn between her emotional debt to Carrie and her longing to be free of it, Lo helps Carrie flee the hotel and accompanies her on a wild trip across Europe, the initially frivolous pleasures of which gradually take on a more sinister cast. Ware doesn't tie everything up perfectly, but she keeps the pace fast and the twists coming. This will satisfy the author's fans. Agent: Eve White, Eve White Literary. (July)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Travel writer Lo Blacklock is back. Ten years after the events ofThe Woman in Cabin 10 (2016), she's attending the opening of a lavish Swiss hotel when, once again, a mystery intervenes. A decade after she almost died on a luxury cruise and ended up exposing a murder plot, travel journalist Laura "Lo" Blacklock is trying to get back into the business post-Covid-19 and post--maternity leave. When she's invited to an exclusive hotel launch by the Leidmann Group on the shores of Switzerland's gorgeous Lake Geneva, her supportive husband, Judah, insists that she should go, and her old boss, Rowan, says that if Lo can score an interview with the reclusive Marcus Leidmann, she'll publish it in the Financial Times. Leaving Judah and the kids at home in New York, Lo is surprised by a last-minute upgrade to first class, which kicks off her trip in style. The hotel is appropriately awe-inspiring in both scenic location and effortless luxury, and Lo starts to put the memories of last trip's trauma behind her, thinking that maybe she can just enjoy the experience this time. But then, at dinner, she's surprised to see at least three guests who were also on that original cruise, and when she finds a mysterious note in her room saying "Please come to suite 11 as soon as possible," she gets another shock. To quote William Faulkner, she realizes that "the past is never dead," and soon Lo is careening across Europe on her way to England, only to find herself embroiled in another murder. The back half of the novel offers her the opportunity to continue her amateur sleuthing, and while she avoids much of the physical danger that plagued her on the cruise a decade ago, she is in very real legal trouble. This is the prolific Ware's first sequel, and it's fun to spend time with Lo again, as she's both savvy and kindhearted. Unfortunately, the mystery is not as atmospheric and gripping as usual for Ware, though even a lesser Ruth Ware thriller is still worth reading. An enjoyable visit with an old character, but not one of Ware's strongest. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
