Nora hasn’t seen or spoken to Clare in ten years. Not since they were both in high school.

Not since Nora walked away one day and never looked back.

Until, one day an unexpected e-mail arrives. Clare is having a hen do and Nora is invited.

Reluctantly, Nora agrees to go and at first all seems well. But as the weekend goes on, things start to go wrong. And when Nora suddenly wakes up in a hospital with no memory of what happened, she desperately needs to remember because one of the guests might be a killer and she might be next on their list.

In A Dark, Dark Wood is supposedly a dark thriller, but I would be more likely to describe it as a light mystery. Based on the cover and the blurb on the back, one would expect something deeper and far darker than what is delivered. Yes, there is a bit of mystery involved, and yes someone does die, but the actual build up and final resolution left me wanting more.

The characters themselves were difficult to develop any kind of emotional attachment to. Several times I found myself wanting to give the main character Nora, a good shake. For a supposed crime novel writer she can be quite blase at times. Add to that the fact that she doesn’t have a very large online presence. In this day and age of social media, an author like her would at least have a Facebook or Twitter. It comes across that she has nothing like that. She also admits to only looking up her old boyfriend ONCE in the 10 years since the separated. That too I find hard to swallow, especially if we are to believe that they were a very close couple.

While In A Dark, Dark Wood started strong, by about halfway through it began to slow down tremendously. And while Ware tried to set the narrative to point to one character as the baddie, it didn’t quite work. I was able to guess the ending far before the big reveal. It was almost anti-climactic.

Ruth Ware has written some excellent books – her The Death of Mrs. Westaway has garnered some major acclaims. And while there are some readers who enjoyed In A Dark, Dark Wood from beginning to end, I was not one of them. While it started very strong, it finished weak. This isn’t one I would recommend to every one, but if you’re looking for a fast read with a touch of mystery, you could certainly give this a try.