The Woman in Cabin 10

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware features a new-to-me type of protagonist. Laura Blacklock is a travel journalist invited to sail on the maiden voyage of boutique luxury liner Aurora. The cruise ship is headed to the Norwegian fjords to see the northern lights and Laura - who introduces herself as Lo - is on board to write an article about the journey.

After a few too many drinks over dinner with fellow guests on the first night, Lo sees a person being thrown overboard from the balcony next to hers, Cabin 10. The crew explain Cabin 10 is unoccupied due to a late guest cancellation and don't believe her account. The captain and owner of the ship conduct a full head count and confirm that every guest and crew member is accounted for. show more Nobody is missing.

An industry colleague - who happens to be Lo's ex boyfriend - suspects her anxiety medication might be to blame so Lo sets out to prove what she saw by putting her journalistic skills to work and investigating.

There was a little too much drinking on this work trip for my liking and I didn't like the nickname Lo, but they were minor niggles. There was a lot of time spent talking to crew members and trying to find the woman she saw in Cabin 10 the day she embarked and while I understand this was a necessary step in Lo's enquiries, it did grow a little tired. Thankfully the plot eventually moved on and the pace picked up again shortly after.

The isolation of the cruise ship at sea without phone signal or internet access created an Agatha Christie type scenario of sorts with a locked room mystery to solve. Only this time the characters were at sea although the isolated suspect pool was similar to that of One by One by Ruth Ware and I get the feeling the author loves to create these situational mysteries. The reader is left to decide if Lo is an unreliable witness or whether the woman in Cabin 10 did exist but was murdered and thrown overboard.

Published in 2016, I've seen comparisons to The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins (published in 2015) however Lo was far less flawed than Rachel, making her a better protagonist capable of acting in her own best interests and furthering the plot in a more engaging way.

I recently watched the movie adaptation of The Woman in Cabin 10 starring Keira Knightley and Guy Pearce and definitely preferred the book. Understandably the movie cut out all the crew consultation but introduced new elements that just didn't happen in the book. One change gave characters a better motive, but that was the only improvement. I thought the ending of the novel was terrific and the 'last contact' between two main characters was an inspired choice by the author, completely absent from the movie. Overall, the book contained more danger and suspense making it far more entertaining and confirming the maxim that the book is always better.

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware is recommended for readers who enjoy mystery and crime thrillers and the sequel - The Woman in Suite 11 - has just been published. Guess what I'll be reading and reviewing next? show less

You know the scenario where a woman accuses a man of sexual misconduct and his lawyer tries to show how the woman was drunk or on drugs or was mentally unstable and misunderstood his client’s behavior, and besides, she was a bad person in general. Ruth Wade uses an implied lawyer scenario to set up her mystery, which has an underlying he-said/she-said dynamic. Lo (Laura) Blacklock, is an alcoholic and drug dependent. She is frequently irrational in her relationships, prone to anxiety attacks if she doesn’t get her medication, suffers from sleep-deprivation, and is not a little paranoid. The victim of a break-in, she’s one of those people social media often likes to deplore: she refuses to “get over it.” Although her aspiration show more is to take over her boss’s position in a travel magazine by substituting for her on a luxury cruise, there is a running joke where the staff keeps explaining the schedule and the amenities because she never gets around to reading the press kit (she’s supposed to be writing a puff piece about the cruise). Beyond that, she is not a particularly sympathetic person: lacking much self-awareness, she seems to have an excuse for everything, especially her drinking; she shows no empathy for the ship’s staff on their first trip. She comes across as a ship’s security officer’s worst nightmare. She is petty: when she has to switch clothes in order to escape probable murder, she frets about having to give up her expensive boots. On the other hand, she leaves her cat unattended in her flat and has to ask her mother to feed the pet via e-mail after the ship of fools has already left. (OK, if you don’t like cats this criticism may seem itself a little petty.) She’s a poor detective; the solution has to be explained to her by the person who plays a key part in the mystery. But despite all this, the underlying truth is that something bad has indeed happened, and the “hysterical” woman has really witnessed it. So the reader becomes a juror witnessing a clever lawyer’s obfuscation and needs to see through it. However, in real life a corroborating woman in cabin 10 cannot always be pulled out of a hat by the prosecution. Without a corroborating witness, could we legitimately accept Lo’s version of what happened, or would we be accepting a counter scenario that could well be considered an overelaborate fictional (illogical, irrational) solution? It could be argued that the implied resolution behind the fiction is that female solidarity and extra-legal means are the only way to overcome patriarchal power. From her boyfriend Judah Lewis’s perspective, Lo’s empathy for the female instrumental in a murder plan that would lead to Lo’s potential death does not seem logical. If rational explanations are a means of disguising the oppression of irrational male ends that use women as means, only irrational female solutions allow one to break out of the loop. And Wade is honest enough to see that victimized women do not have to be role models. show less

4.5 stars

Lo is a travel writer with an opportunity to sail on a small new luxury cruise ship. On her first night on the ship, she is awoken to a scream next door and she’s certain someone has been thrown overboard! But, no one believes her. The room next door is empty and always was. There is no evidence anywhere to indicate that what Lo recounts might have actually happened.

I didn’t describe the first chapter in my summary, but as a single woman living alone, reading in bed just before turning the light off, that was creepy! I love cruises, so I loved the setting right off! This one pulled me in right away and I wanted to just keep reading. In fact, except for starting the book so late the first night, the next day, once I sat show more down to read, I just kept going until I finished! Twists and turns galore, and though maybe not necessarily realistic, it kept me on the edge of my seat! show less

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10 by Ruth Ware
Can't wait to watch this on Netflix when it drops October 10, 2025!

Before diving into the sequel, I needed a refresher cruise, so I re-listened to “The Woman in Cabin 10.”

Hanging out with Lo Blacklock on this floating palace feels like being trapped in a fancy panic room with endless champagne and the constant sense that the walls are closing in.
Who knew luxury could feel so claustrophobic?

The Aurora looks glossy and exclusive, but out on those inky waters, the vibe turns deliciously creepy. Suddenly, all that five-star glitz is a velvet-lined trap, and those smiling guests seem just a little too polished.

There were times I wanted to reach through my headphones and give Lo a pep show more talk or maybe a mild slap. Some of her choices felt straight out of a horror movie, but it added to the fun. Paranoia, whispers behind doors, and that dizzy feeling of being gaslit? It’s all here.

I’m giving this one 4 unnerving stars. The vibes are modern Gothic, and I loved revisiting it before jumping into the sequel. If you want a thrill ride with a side of champagne, Ware’s your girl.

#TheWomanInCabin10 #RuthWare #SimonSchusterAudio #CapCut #ImogenChurch show less

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10 by Ruth Ware
Can't wait to watch this on Netflix when it drops October 10, 2025!

Before diving into the sequel, I needed a refresher cruise, so I re-listened to “The Woman in Cabin 10.”

Hanging out with Lo Blacklock on this floating palace feels like being trapped in a fancy panic room with endless champagne and the constant sense that the walls are closing in.
Who knew luxury could feel so claustrophobic?

The Aurora looks glossy and exclusive, but out on those inky waters, the vibe turns deliciously creepy. Suddenly, all that five-star glitz is a velvet-lined trap, and those smiling guests seem just a little too polished.

There were times I wanted to reach through my headphones and give Lo a pep show more talk or maybe a mild slap. Some of her choices felt straight out of a horror movie, but it added to the fun. Paranoia, whispers behind doors, and that dizzy feeling of being gaslit? It’s all here.

I’m giving this one four unnerving stars. The vibes are modern Gothic, and I loved revisiting it before jumping into the sequel. If you want a thrill ride with a side of champagne, Ware’s your girl.

#TheWomanInCabin10 #RuthWare #SimonSchusterAudio #CapCut #ImogenChurch show less

I enjoyed this book, but for me it’s a potato chip thriller. A fast-paced read that’s hard to put down, but without a ton of substance and lots of things that unravel if you think about them too hard. On the other hand, it was an enjoyable read. I kept picking it up to find out “just a little more”.

Things I liked:
* the “locked room” setting of the cruise ship
* some of the side characters were great
* the use of emails / texts / etc from future dates to leave the reader second-guessing
* I didn’t see the twist coming
* the main character’s anxiety seemed realistic (though granted I don’t have first-hand experience)

Things I didn’t like:
* the opening of the book seemed included only to trigger said anxiety - I kept show more expecting it to have some impact on the plot other than making Lo jittery
* some of the other characters were not as great
* I didn’t connect with Lo very much, and had a hard time believing that she was a journalist based on her actions in the book show less

I loved it! Absolutely fun and full of mystery and interesting twists. I didn't go in this story thinking it was anything than what it was. It's not the next anything book, it stands so well on it's own.

I fully fell into Lo's world. I'd recently spotted a BBC Masterpiece mystery that was like this story but I threw it to the side and just dove in Lo is so easy to like and dislike, all at once. She's not perfect, she has flaws. She isn't always nice, she isn't always perfect and her recent break in and really shaken her up. She's maybe drinking more than she should.

But I loved her flaws. I loved her defense about her script but also her knowing there was no cause - sometimes there just is. I loved her stumbling socializing skills and her show more intense need to save, help and survive. I loved that she was imperfect and didn't always make the choices I would - it made her more real.

I also loved the claustrophobia of the boat. I get car sick just driving. There is no way I could do a boat - so her fear and her struggles, I could completely understand them. I loved it start to finish. show less