She is highly strung and absolutely idolizes Clare, even dresses like her. The hostess, Florence Clay, known as 'Flo,' is Clare's 'BFF' from university. Nora makes a pact with Nina to attend the party. Nina is a very witty, intelligent character, and provides a great deal of relief throughout this suspenseful story. Nina is a doctor training as a surgeon who has recently returned from a stint with Medcins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) in Colombia, repairing gunshot wounds. The only other guest in the group email whom Nora recognizes is Nina de Souza, a friend from childhood who is still part of Nora's life in London. She had gone by 'Lee' then, and now is firmly 'Nora.' It is clear that this was a turning point in Nora's life. The circumstances surrounding Nora's leaving home are kept secretive.

Nora has not seen Clare in ten years, not since she left Reading at age sixteen. Clare was the Queen Bee, beautiful, popular, alternately warm and loving, and cruel and hateful. When Nora was growing up in Reading, Clare had been her best friend.

The sender is Florence Clay, who is hosting the weekend in honor of Clare Cavendish. Nora is startled and upset when she receives a group email invitation to a 'hen party' (the English version of a bachelorette party).

Since she works from home, she sticks to a routine, and she starts each day with coffee and toast, and then out for a long run. Nora tells the story, as the first-person narrator. Leonora Shaw, who prefers to be called 'Nora,' age twenty-six, lives a rather solitary life, and writes crime books in her tiny studio flat in Hackney (a borough in Greater London). friends are invited to a remote location on a pretext when the real intent is nefarious (and Ware's characters reference Christie's novel), Ruth Ware's thriller IN A DARK, DARK WOOD is brilliant, riveting and original. While every psychological thriller since 2012 has had to bear the burden of comparison to Gillian Flynn's GONE GIRL, Ruth Ware's novel harks back to Agatha Christie's masterful 'whodunit,' AND THEN THERE WERE NONE. While Ware employs Christie's ingenious plot device, i.e. Scout Press/Gallery Books, Aug(digital edition) Book Review: IN A DARK, DARK WOOD by Ruth Ware

Book review in a dark dark wood