A new book from Ruth Ware has become an eagerly awaited annual event. I would recommend any of her previous novels: In a Dark, Dark Wood, The Woman in Cabin 10, The Lying Game, The Death of Mrs. Westaway, and The Turn of the Key. You will find The Turn of the Key reviewed in this blog. Ware is a modern Agatha Christie, placing a group of characters with various relationships, and perhaps hidden animosities or resentments, and one protagonist, in an isolating, stressful situation, then letting the action unfold. Needless to say, murder results, maybe even multiple murders, and a race against time to figure out what is happening before the protagonist suffers the same fate.

People do not reveal the shameful parts of their past: hidden identities, humiliating or traumatic events, sexual liaisons. It is these elements of the past, with their unresolved shame, anger, fear and trauma, that demand action when opportunity presents itself, or added stresses mount. Danny, the chef, and Erin, the housekeeper, are hosting the top staff and shareholders of Snoop, a music sharing social media app, for a week of team building at a chalet in the French Alps. Staff bring secret agendas that are revealed here, power plays are made, and the stress is ratcheted upward. When a storm results in an avalanche that cuts off the chalet from access, communications are cut, and utilities (power, water, heat) are gradually lost, a series of murders take place. Characters become increasingly desperate to save their lives, both from the killer and the situation.

Ware is excellent at staging the situation, gradually revealing character, and planting and timing the stresses needed to crack each person, taking them to their breaking point, removing their options until risky action is required for self-preservation. One By One is a terrific mystery, and a suspenseful delight, for those of us who take pleasure in such things. Highly recommended.