The Woman in Suite 11

Ten years after the traumatic events on the cruise ship Aurora, Lo Blacklock is a stay-at-home mum of two in New York, married to Judah, and desperate to restart her journalism career. When an invitation arrives to the press opening of Le Grand Hotel du Lac — a stunning luxury chateau on Lake Geneva owned by reclusive billionaire Marcus Leidmann — she jumps at it, pitching an exclusive interview with Leidmann to the Financial Times. But from the moment she arrives, things feel off. Bizarrely, three other guests who were on the Aurora ten years ago are also in attendance. Then she finds a note in her room: come to Suite 11. It's Carrie — the woman who imprisoned Lo on the ship but also ultimately saved her life — now living as show more Leidmann's mistress and claiming he's abusive and dangerous. She begs Lo for help escaping. Lo, despite every sensible instinct, gets involved. Marcus is found dead. Lo becomes a suspect. What follows is a cat-and-mouse chase across Europe toward England. Ruth Ware's first ever sequel, timed to coincide with the Netflix adaptation of The Woman in Cabin 10 starring Keira Knightley as Lo. Reviewed as fast and propulsive in the final third, but slower to start than Ware's best standalones.

[May contain spoilers]
Carrie has been orchestrating things from the start — she kills Marcus and Lo ends up careening across Europe partially trying to help her and partially trying to clear her own name. The twists come fast in the final act, possibly one or two too many according to some reviewers. Lo ends up in serious legal jeopardy before things resolve. The consensus is that it's a fun, propulsive page-turner but not quite as atmospheric or gripping as the original — the mystery is slightly less elegant, and Lo makes some frustratingly naive decisions that strain credibility given everything she supposedly learned ten years ago.
What I think: You'd probably enjoy the ride — it's compulsively readable especially in the back half, and the Lake Geneva setting is lush. But as a sequel it might feel like a slight step down if you loved Cabin 10. show less

The Woman in Suite 11, Ruth Ware, author; Imogen Church, narrator
Ruth Ware has written a sequel to her best seller The Woman in Cabin 10. Many of the characters have returned in this book, chief among them is Carrie, and the love/hate relationship between Laura/Lo Blacklock and Carrie continues. However, where the first book was an edge of the seat, page turning experience, this was a chore to get through. Laura Blacklock has become a whiny, cursing, naïve woman who makes a wrong decision at every opportunity. She has not matured over the last decade, although she has married and now has two children.
When she is invited to a travel conference at a new hotel in Switzerland, by the Leidmann Group, she goes off to Europe hoping to show more interview Marcus Leidmann, the patriarch, a man with a Howard Hughes reputation for reclusiveness. She is only just returning to the world of travel journalism and the Financial Times has offered her a byline if she can score the interview and produce a worthwhile piece. She is hoping to restart her career. She leaves her husband Judah in charge of her two small children, Eli and Teddy, and reenters the corporate world with some trepidation, but also excitement.
Once in Switzerland at the Hotel du Lac, she discovers many of the passengers from the Aurora Borealis are also there. She was almost killed on that ship, about a decade ago, and her memories are still alive and well, causing her to have violent nightmares and to require medication. Then, surprise, surprise, she is summoned to Marcus Leidmann’s suite and discovers Carrie is there. She agrees to help Carrie escape from the clutches of Marcus Leidmann, because after Carrie almost got her killed so many years ago, she had come back to ultimately save her life. Carrie now confesses that she has been with Marcus for years and has been forced to do things that are horrible and has no way out without her help. He is powerful and has threatened her if she leaves him. Having dual citizenship allows Lo to have two passports, one of which she loans to Carrie. Carrie has thought it all out, and soon, they both flee the hotel. The fact that Lo realizes it is a foolish and dangerous thing to do, but rationalizes it to herself, does not excuse her foolish complicity. It stretches credibility to believe that a woman who has been a successful journalist, who already survived an attempt on her life brought on by the very Carrie, would endanger her own life again, now as a mother and wife, with a scheme designed by Carrie that was supposed to give her plausible deniability and keep her safe. To help Carrie escape from the clutches of Marcus Leidmann, she could wind up in danger again or in prison herself. Carrie is already wanted for murder and has been hiding since their last encounter.
One must suspend disbelief in order to believe that Lo could be that naïve and/or incompetent. One has to suspend disbelief for most of the events that follow. This book is not an edge of the seat thriller at all. This book is a painful, unsatisfying effort that forces the reader to endure constant cursing (I lost count of how many times the “F” word was used in some form by so many of the characters), constant whining, apologies that fall on ears that should be deaf, but aren’t, and immature and thoughtless responses to dangerous and impossible situations that seem to come up at every turn.
This book is overly dramatic, overly emotional, repetitive and unrealistic. After about 16 hours of listening, I realized that I should have stopped early on, as I wanted to, but I hoped it would improve. Unfortunately, it got more outrageous, and for me, it had few redeeming features other than the narrator who was superb, though she too often over emoted because of the nature of the verbiage. This is billed as book two, and obviously, the door seems to have been left open for another to follow. Although I really eagerly awaited this one, I am not sure that the next one will tempt me. The characters were caricatures of themselves! show less

I read THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10 when it came out nine years ago, and it remains one of my favorite thrillers of hers. I still remember it being wild, nerve-wracking, and so much fun. That said, I don't think it really needed a sequel. I found the follow-up to be just ok. A good mystery, for sure, but not nearly as thrilling as the original. Lo was so naive and made some silly decisions! No maturity after nearly a decade? I was also bummed that so little time was spent at that amazing Swiss hotel. There were some entertaining moments, but I think it would have been better redone as its own thing. Maybe just too much time has passed since the fjords of Norway.

Thank you to the publisher and Edelweiss for a digital copy of this book. Opinions show more are my own. show less

It’s suspenseful, fast-paced, and a pretty good sequel to “The Woman in Cabin 10”!

📞 For Fans of:
- international thriller
- interconnected series
- on the run
- suspense
- thriller
- fast paced

✏️ Spoiler-Free Review
This book picks up 10 years after “The Woman in Cabin 10” when main character, Lo Blackwood, is invited to preview a hotel as she returns to the travel writer scene. However, when she gets there there are people she recognizes… a lot of people… from the Aurora ship, the cruise ship that changed her life 10 years ago. But why? And when someone asks her for help, can she pull it off?

I really enjoyed the suspense and build up of this story and it was so relatable and fast-paced that I was *almost* able to look show more past the incredulity of how incredibly stupid the main character can be. I wanted to call her stupid but would probably have done everything the exact same way that she did. I think that’s why I actually enjoyed this book as much as I did. Even though the main character makes some dumb mistakes, reading this book right after the first book made all the emotional decisions make sense.

📚 Book: The Woman in Suite 11 by Ruth Ware
⭐ Rating: 3.5 out of 5
✅ I would recommend to anyone who read The Woman in Cabin 10! Enjoyable as a back-to-back read! show less

A decade has gone past since the events in "The Woman in Cabin 10". Lo is now married with two children, but she longs to work as a travel journalist again. When she is invited to the opening of a luxurious hotel in Switzerland, it seems like it's her chance to get into the game again, especially as she might be able to secure an interview with an elderly tycoon who usually is utterly secretive. Once she has arrived at the hotel, though, she meets several people from her past, and things start to get strange.

Ruth Ware's style is effortless and easy to read without being simplistic, and that is what kind of saved this book. I liked the narrative voice. The plot itself was getting on my nerves, and the novel was a slog over long show more stretches, despite some surprising twists. It was hard for me to emphasize with Lo because her actions are so naive and I just wanted to shout at her.
I still wanted to know how it ended and there were some good scenes that kept me on the edge of my seat, but still, this does not compare at all to the first book and I wish it was much better. show less

Entertaining mystery thriller that is as predictable as it is entertaining.

First and foremost, before you open this book, you need to know that it features many of the characters from The Woman in Cabin 10 and it's probably a really good idea to read it first if you have not.

Secondly, you must suspend any and all disbelief as this entire story will seriously strain any credulity you have.

It's been 10 years since Laura (Lo) Blacklock experienced all of the traumatic events on the Aurora. Since her lucky escape from death, she's gotten married, had two children, and written a bestseller about her experience on that ship. She has, however, not worked at all since and wants to get back to her old career as a travel writer. Out of the show more blue, she gets an invite to the opening of a grand hotel owned by Marcus Leidmann, a billionaire. Lo manages to leverage that name with an old contact who works for Financial Times publication who encourages Lo to go to Switzerland and try to get an interview with the man. Lo does go to Switzerland and finds herself quickly in way too deep in a new and crazy situation. And it gets even more wild when she reconnects with someone from her past.

As always, Ruth Ware hooks the reader quickly and you're in way too deep before you realize that Lo hasn't changed a bit and she's still not experienced as much personal growth as we would have hoped. There are lots of twists and turns and many red herrings though a savvy reader will be able to guess where it's all going. The fun is in seeing how the author gets you there. Was this sequel necessary? Nope, not at all, but it was a quick read and kept me dialed in and amused.

I was able to listen to the audio book while reading along in the e-book ARC provided by the publisher. I liked the narrator, Imogen Church, only when she was voicing the main character. The way she did other voices, especially the kids, was almost cringe sometimes. (Maybe there should be a prohibition in adult books with narrators trying to imitate children.) The accents and male voices didn't fare much better. In any event, I do enjoy the immersive experience of both at once. show less

The Woman in Suite 11 by Ruth Ware is the sequel to The Woman in Cabin 10, published in 2016. While some readers have patiently waited 9 years to find out what happened to Laura Blacklock after the events on the Aurora, I only had to wait a week. I read The Woman in Cabin 10 in the lead up to the release of The Woman in Suite 11 which I think was a huge advantage as all of the characters were fresh in my mind.

After the events in Norway, Laura published a book entitled Dark Waters and has been a stay at home Mum in the US raising two kids with husband Judah. After 6 years of occasional freelancing, Laura is ready to re-enter the workforce on a permanent basis and is interviewing for a job.

Although still introducing herself as Lo - ugh - show more I was pleased to see a more mature Laura in these pages. Now a Mum, Laura's excessive drinking is a thing of the past although she's still making questionable choices which drives the narrative forward.

Ruth Ware has an appealing way of including the everyday into a character's behaviour, and I particularly enjoyed this one:

"For the next half hour, I tried to distract myself. I scrolled my phone, did Wordle and the New York Times Spelling Bee..." Page 144

I do the Wordle with my friend every day and the New York Times Spelling Bee every night with my husband, so I loved seeing this reflected in the main character. But I always 'do the Wordle', but here Laura 'did Wordle'... have I been saying this incorrectly the whole time?

As I mentioned in my review of The Woman in Cabin 10, author Ruth Ware loves a locked room mystery and this time she literally gave us one. I found some of the sleuthing around the comings and goings of a particular hotel room a tiny bit tedious but it was all necessary to inform the plot and narrow down the suspect pool.

I loved learning the identity of the woman in the title - don't worry, no spoilers here - and the complex dynamic between Laura and the supporting character play out, which also formed the focus of the book. I recommend The Woman in Suite 11 by Ruth Ware to fans of crime and mystery novels, but you'll definitely need to read The Woman in Cabin 10 first.

* Copy courtesy of Simon & Schuster * show less