The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

Moderator---Dee Dee

Meet Laura Blacklock (Lo) who recently found an intruder in her flat.  That would put anyone on edge for a long time to come.  But, she has a life to get on with and an assignment that could advance her career with the travel magazine she works for.  Lo is to cover the maiden voyage of the luxury boutique cruise ship, the Aurora Borealis, in the North Sea.

The ship is small, with only 10 cabins for guests.  It is owned by Richard Bullmer and his wife, heiress Anne Lyngstad, who play host to the assembled guests on the trip.  Anne has cancer and has gone through chemo and not able to fully participate in all the Aurora has to offer.  From a top notch chef to a library, spa, sauna, sunroom and cocktail lounge, this miniature vessel is meant to offer all the amenities you would find on a much larger cruise ship but in a more intimate setting.  And the owner needs investors to keep it afloat.

When Lo realizes she has no mascara before a posh dinner on the boat, she knocks on the door of cabin 10 and a young woman answers.  She loans her mascara and Lo is good to go to dinner.  She spends the evening drinking too much and meeting the other guests and her host.  She returns to her cabin, drinks some more, and finally falls asleep.  Something awakens her around 3:00 am.  She isn't sure what she heard but does recognize the sound of the veranda door in the cabin next door opening and then a big splash.  

And the mystery begins.  Cabin 10 was meant for a potential investor who cancelled after, like Lo, his house was broken into prior to the voyage.  No one else was booked in that cabin and it was empty.  Lo had been drinking heavily that evening plus was on anti-depressants.  When she reported what she suspected to the ship's security, an inquiry finds that all passengers and crew members are accounted for.  Lo is suspected of being unreliable due to her drinking and medications.  Her only proof of the existence of a woman in cabin 10, mascara, turns up missing.  And the plot thickens.

CBS has the rights to this 2016 novel and is set to produce the film.  Ruth Ware's other books, In a Dark, Dark Wood (2015) and The Lying Game (2017) will be seen on either the bog screen or the small screen.  Reese Witherspoon is producing the first one as a film.  Entertainment One has acquired television rights to the second one.

Breakfast Buffet

Pancakes, bacon, grapes, blueberries,

strawberries, pastries, orange juice

"Lots of intrigue, a real whodunit. No cruise in my future!"—Dee Dee 👍🏻

"Was there a woman in cabin 10 or just an unreliable narrator?"—Shellie 👍🏻