So happy to showcase another terrific new book coming this summer. If you like a complex mystery with imperfect characters, check out the stories from this best-selling author.
The Woman in Suite 11
Ruth Ware
ASIN : B0DJM99D77
Publisher : Gallery/Scout Press (July 8, 2025)
Language : English
Print length : 400 pages
**** SYNOPSIS ****
In this follow-up to The Woman in Cabin 10, Lo Blacklock returns to attend the opening of a luxury hotel, only to find herself in a white-knuckled race across Europe.
When the invitation to attend the press opening of a luxury Swiss hotel—owned by reclusive billionaire Marcus Leidmann—arrives, it’s like the answer to a prayer. Three years after the birth of her youngest child, Lo Blacklock is ready to reestablish her journalism career, but post-pandemic travel journalism is a very different landscape from the one she left ten years ago.
The chateau on the shores of Lake Geneva is everything Lo’s ever dreamed of, and she hopes she can snag an interview with Marcus. Unfortunately, he proves to be even more difficult to pin down than his reputation suggests. When Lo gets a late-night call asking her to come to Marcus’s hotel room, she agrees despite her own misgivings. She’s greeted, however, by a woman claiming to be Marcus’s mistress, and in life-or-death jeopardy.
What follows is a thrilling cat-and-mouse pursuit across Europe, forcing Lo to ask herself just how much she’s willing to sacrifice to save this woman…and if she can even trust her?
**** REVIEW ****
I was lucky to win an advance review copy of The Woman in Suite 11, the second book in the Lo Blacklock mystery series. Many thanks to Goodreads and the publisher, Gallery/Scout Press for the opportunity to go to Switzerland with Lo and share in her adventure.
When I started to read this book, I noted the references to the first story in the series, The Woman in Cabin 10, and soon realized that I’d probably read that book, recognizing the plot and some of the characters. Even though the familiarity was a nice surprise for me, a reader doesn’t have to have read the first to enjoy this installment of the series. What happened in the first book is integral to the plot of this one, and the author does a good job of weaving it all together in a way that provides enough information without becoming tedious.
In both books, I appreciated the author’s gift for knowing when to speed up the action and when to pull back a little, giving the characters time for introspection. That allows for characters to evolve and develop more fully, changing course like most people do in real life. Decisions are made for whatever reason at the moment, but often we have to rethink those decisions and take a different action when circumstances change.
The characters in the story are crafted with complex personalities that are flawed. Nobody is the perfect “good guy” or “bad guy” and that fullness of characterization adds even more to their relatability.
While I do enjoy a complex mystery and lots of suspense – which Ware dishes out in great heaps – for me a story is always about the characters. How do they handle the challenges that come their way? How do they relate to each other as friends, lovers, family? Do they come across as real people with all the baggage carried by real people?
While reading The Woman in Suite 11, my answers to those questions were all a resounding, “Yes.”
The twists in the plot kept me guessing as to who killed the murder victim, and just when I thought everything was settled, another surprise popped up. Ware has a wonderful way of doing that, dropping another shoe, then another, then another, then another, and when reading during a lunch break, there were plenty of times I struggled to close the book so I could get back to work.
The descriptions brought places to life, and the virtual visit to Switzerland was wonderful. This was a story I enjoyed very much, and I look forward to the next in the series. I’ve read several of her other books, and they all have complex characters and plots, and take a reader to a lot of different places, ones that they possibly wouldn’t be able to visit in real life.
**** ABOUT THE AUTHOR ****
Ruth Ware worked as a waitress, a bookseller, a teacher of English as a foreign language, and a press officer before settling down as a full-time writer. She now lives with her family in Sussex, on the south coast of England. She is the #1 New York Times and Globe and Mail (Toronto) bestselling author of In a Dark, Dark Wood; The Woman in Cabin 10; The Lying Game; The Death of Mrs. Westaway; The Turn of the Key; One by One; The It Girl; Zero Days; One Perfect Couple; and The Woman in Suite 11. Visit her at RuthWare.com or follow her on socials @RuthWareWriter.
Visit her AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE for a list of all her books.
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Hope you enjoyed the review. Have a wonderful start to your week and be happy. Be safe.