Great Read for Your Next Cruise: ‘The Woman in Cabin 10’

Do you enjoy reading a good book while on a cruise?  I do, so I am always looking for the next great read.  I am a lover of audiobooks, so I take my phone and earbuds to the very back of the ship and watch the tail the ship is making in the water and enjoy a good story. 

So what about a story set on a cruise ship???  ‘The Woman in Cabin 10’ by Ruth Ware is a great murder mystery set on a small luxury cruise liner.  This book was recommended to me by a fellow cruiser and I am so glad because I loved it.

Murder She Wrote?

Here is a synopsis of the story – may contain minor spoilers but it will make you want to read the book to find out more…

Laura ‘Lo’ Blacklock works for the travel magazine Velocity but she has never been sent to cover anything, that job went to her boss.  But Lo lucks up that Rowan is pregnant and she feels being on a ship will make her sick.  This is her big chance!  If she can do a good job covering the maiden voyage of the brand new exclusive cruise ship, the Aurora, then she will be assigned to cover everything during Rowan’s maternity leave and, hopefully, beyond.   

Unfortunately, she has bad luck just days before her voyage when her flat in London is broken into and the burglar locks her in her bedroom, hitting her face with the door in the process.  She becomes unable to sleep as her anxiety continues to rise.  By the time she boards the vessel she has only had a few hours of sleep in days.  But she is expected to mingle with the other guests and make a good impression for Velocity…  how will that go?

This cruise ship is not what we normally think of.  It is a very small ship with only ten guest cabins.  10!  The Aurora is all about luxury and takes her name from the Northern Lights as that is the voyages main destination.  There is a cocktail party and a formal dinner on the first night an Lo ends up having a bit too much alcohol and not enough food.  But on the positive side, she feels that she is so tired and the booze will help her finally sleep. 

She does fall asleep but a nightmare wakes her up in the middle of the night.  Wait, was that a scream?  Did Lo hear a splash in the water?  Did she just witness a murder??? 

She calls the front desk and the bleary-eyed security guard comes to investigate.  Will he believe her after seeing all of the mini bottles filling the trash can?

Who is this woman?  Lo is the only person to see the woman who was in cabin 10.  As Lo realizes that her mascara was in the purse that was stolen, she goes next door from her room in cabin 9 to borrow some before dinner the night before. But the woman was not at dinner with the other guests.  And when the head of security shows Lo the cabin, it is completely empty like no one had ever been there… Was she murdered?  Who killed her? 

As Lo speaks to the crew and the other passengers, no one else had ever seen her…  Was she imagining it?  Was her anxiety and lack of sleep making her hallucinate? 

Lo insists the woman was real and sets out to prove something terrible happened on board.

That is all I will give you of the story, but I hope I have intrigued you to read the book to see what happens.  If you like mysteries and you enjoy cruising, this will be a perfect book for you.

Not your average cruise

A few other observations that won’t spoil the story…  It was very interesting to see the difference in this ‘luxury’ cruise liner and what I know of cruising. 

• First of all ten cabins? Wow! Every ship I have sailed has had thousands of passengers.  They do say that the cruise would cost between 8-10 thousand pounds per person (not dollars as the story starts in London). 
• Every night is a formal affair. I am not sure I would like this… while I do enjoy dressing up once or twice, I also enjoy casual dining.
• The spa is included. Now, this I would like, but I guess with that price tag it should be!

To be on the maiden voyage of a brand new cruise ship is on my bucket list… but I would hope to have a lot less drama than Lo experienced.  It would also be a dream come true to be able to cover these events at no charge.  Free cruise… yes, please!

I really loved this book!

I am not the only one recommending this book.  It was featured as an Entertainment Weekly “Summer Must List” Pick, a New York Post “Summer Must-Read” Pick and was included in Summer Book Guides from Bustle, Oprah.com, PureWow, and USA TODAY.

If you would like to read this for yourself, here is a link to Amazon (affiliate link) or find it at your local library.

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If you have already read ‘The Woman in Cabin 10’ tell me what you thought of it.  Do you have other suggestions for a perfect read on a cruise? Let me know as well!  I am always looking for a good story!

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Thanks,
Alisa
EECC Travels