One By One (2020) by Ruth Ware. This is a suspense mystery a’la Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None (or whatever version of the title you might have read) but it doesn’t string the mystery along as far as that book did. This is a version of the locked room mystery. Instead of a body in a room, there are bodies scattered about an isolate ski chalet that has been cut off from the rest of the world by an avalanche. The chalet has been let for a week by Snoop.com for its top four people and their assistants, to relax and ski and talk about the future of this fledgeling internet company.
Or make that top ten. Everyone forgets about Liz. She’s not actually working for the company now, her days as a secretary/gopher long gone. Now she is one of five shareholders in the company, a company that could soon be with 12 million to Liz for her 2% of the shares. The rest of the shares are split between Topher and Eva (30% each), and Rik and Elliot with 19% each. The shareholders are evenly, but contentiously split between remaining private or taking a buyout offer.
Leaving Liz as the deciding vote.
It takes some time into the book before the first murder happens. Eva, a superb skier, may have skied off a most dangerous black run that was supposed to have been closed. She is soon followed by what might have been a suicide or a murder, quickly trailed by a certain murder.
Of course in a thriller the cardinal rule is: if you don’t actually see and touch and prove to yourself that a person is dead, are they really dead?
The avalanche finds this bickering group trapped in such a remote location that, thanks to the weather, has no internet, no phone reception, no land line and soon no electricity as the massive snow impact has destroyed the generator, the only source of power for the chalet.
There are two more occupants of the place: Danny the chef and Erin the all-around servant for the group. They are employed by the ski company that owns and lets a series of chalets. They begin to wonder what horror has been inflected upon them and how can they survive.
Like any good thriller, there are plots twists and turns, but not as many you might have expected. Every member of the cast has a secret, some of which are uncovered rudely, some revealed begrudgingly, and some we never do discover.
Plus there is a thrilling finale to the story that will have you enraptured.
The only downside to this thriller is the ending I’m talking about doesn’t actually come at the end of the story. Instead the book seems to putt-putt-putt along for another thirty pages or so. Those pages wrap up some loose ends but I’m not certain they actually needed wrapping up.
Overall I feel this is a very worthy read. ( )

Not my favorite Ruth Ware thriller. I loved the setting and I liked the premise but I STRONGLY disliked the dual narrative. The story unfolds between two perspectives, Erin a chalet cleaner and host and Liz, a timid guest staying at the chalet as part of a corporate retreat. The chalet is high in the alps, it's gorgeous and isolated; just what the executives of Snoop need to decide the future of their company. They've brought along one extra member though, Liz. Liz hasn't been employed in several years, but she does have a stake in the company owning 2% of the shares. She knows the co-founders are going to hem and haw and use her to be a deciding factor if they take their company public or if they sell it. When one of the co-founders goes missing after a day of skiing they are sick with worry, before they can send out a search party an avalanche traps them up in the mountains. They have no power, no reception, and soon no hope as other members of the party start to die. Who is killing off people and why? It was pretty obvious. And again, the dual narrative was not done well. I'll try another Ruth Ware though - the setting was great. ( )

Ruth ware knows how to weave a great mystery. ( )

I liked this. There was a lot that I found myself saying “what was the point of that addition?” But it was an entertaining read.
I would recommend this to any fans of And Then There Were None. But don’t read them back-to-back! ( )

The opening pages begin the story with snapshots of the Board members of the Snoop company, followed by a BBC press release about the tragedy in an exclusive ski resort that has killed 4 Britons.

There is one person not listed on the Board, Liz, who was also at the Alpine ski resort when the avalanche that began it all struck. Liz had not wanted to attend this "retreat" but she is an essential person as she holds the casting vote about the future of the company.

The book combines the best qualities of thriller and page-turner, and the author at her best.

Highly recommended. ( )