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Ruth Ware

(b.1977)

Ruth Ware grew up in Lewes, in East Sussex. After graduating from Manchester University she moved to Paris, before settling in north London. She has worked as a waitress, a bookseller, a teacher of English as a foreign language and a press officer. Married, with two small children, In a Dark, Dark Wood is her debut thriller.

Genres: Mystery

Series

Lo Blacklock
1. The Woman in Cabin 10 (2016)
2. The Woman in Suite 11 (2025)

Novels

   In a Dark, Dark Wood (2015)
   The Lying Game (2017)
   The Death of Mrs. Westaway (2018)
   The Turn of the Key (2019)
   One by One (2020)
   The It Girl (2022)
   Zero Days (2023)
   One Perfect Couple (2024)

Collections

Marple (2022) (with others)

Series contributed to

Hush
1. Snowflakes (2020)

Omnibus editions show

Books containing stories by Ruth Ware

Murder in Harrogate (2024)
Stories inspired by the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival
edited by
Vaseem Khan

Award nominations

	2025 Short Story Dagger (shortlist) : Murder at the Turkish Baths
	2024 Ned Kelly Award for Best International Crime Novel (nominee) : Zero Days
	2024 Barry Award for Best Thriller (nominee) : Zero Days
	2023 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year (shortlist) : The It Girl
	2021 CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger (shortlist) : One by One
	2017 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year (shortlist) : The Woman in Cabin 10
	2016 Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year (shortlist) : In a Dark, Dark Wood

Ruth Ware recommends

With Friends Like These (2025)
Alissa Lee
"I loved this deliciously twisty tale of friendships unmoored and a game gone way too far for comfort. A heady mix of dark academia, spiraling stakes, and tangled loyalties."

King Sorrow (2025)
Joe Hill
"A brilliantly Faustian fable with a heart as huge as a dragon's, and a stinging twist in its tail. I devoured it."

Please Don't Lie (2025)
(Crystal River , book 1)
Anne Burt and Christina Baker Kline
"Getting away from it all has never looked more sinister or ill-advised than in this deliciously dark version of the small-town idyll."

The Wasp Trap (2025)
Mark Edwards
"The ultimate - literal - locked room mystery, that hits you with twist after twist."

We Live Here Now (2025)
Sarah Pinborough
"All marriages have secrets. All houses have a past. But not like this one. This is Sarah Pinborough at her mind-bending best."

Blood Like Mine (2024)
(Blood , book 1)
Stuart Neville
"Stuart Neville at his very, very best - this book grabs your heart and doesn't let go."

Nowhere Like Home (2024)
Sara Shepard
"Twisted friendships, toxic pasts and tangled motives--this is Sara Shepard doing what she does best!"

The Leftover Woman (2023)
Jean Kwok
"A heart-tugging exploration of love, belonging and the meaning of family."

None of this is True (2023)
Lisa Jewell
"Lisa Jewell is on top-form with this pitch-black fever dream of a book - darker, twistier and more compelling than ever."

The List (2023)
Yomi Adegoke
"A whip-smart and thought-provoking dissection of a terrifyingly plausible 'what if' . . . a triumph."

It's One Of Us (2023)
J T Ellison
"A heart-stoppingly tense thriller about the price of secrets and the layers behind every marriage."

Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six (2022)
Lisa Unger
"Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six is a deliciously tense ride that takes a deep dive into the meaning of family and the price we'll pay for those we love."

The Skeleton Key (2022)
Erin Kelly
"Erin Kelly excels at twisted family dynamics and toxic, compelling characters, and this glorious slice of bohemian gothic showcases all her strengths."

The Last Party (2022)
(DC Morgan, book 1)
Clare Mackintosh
"Brilliant, so atmospheric. I fell in love with courageous, complicated DC Ffion Morgan and I think readers will too."

Deep Water (2022)
Emma Bamford
"Paradise never felt so sinister."

A Narrow Door (2021)
(Malbry, book 4)
Joanne Harris
"Dark, Gothic, and propulsively readable - past secrets and present discoveries entangle in an intricately crafted conclusion."

The Heights (2021)
Louise Candlish
"The Queen of the sucker-punch twist."

Scandalous Alchemy (2021)
(Hester and Crow, book 2)
Katy Moran
"Lush, dark, utterly real and achingly romantic."

Mirrorland (2021)
Carole Johnstone
"A dark, twisty and richly atmospheric exploration of the power of imagination."

Pretty as a Picture (2020)
Elizabeth Little
"I am a sucker for a tough yet vulnerable heroine, and in Pretty as a Picture, Elizabeth Little gives the reader an excellent one, and sets her against a brilliantly toxic backdrop of glitz and entitlement."

Someone We Know (2019)
Shari Lapena
"No-one does suburban paranoia like Shari Lapena – this slowly unfurling nightmare will have you biting your nails until the end."

Lock Every Door (2019)
Riley Sager
"Move over, Rosemary's Baby, urban paranoia has a deliciously Gothic new address."

Queenie (2019)
Candice Carty-Williams
"So raw and well-written and painfully relatable. It's also clever and funny and has the most glorious cover."

The Woman in the Window (2018)
A J Finn
"A dark, twisty confection with an irresistible film noir premise. Hitchcock would have snapped up the rights in a heartbeat."

The Echo Killing (2018)
(Harper McClain, book 1)
Christi Daugherty
"The Echo Killing won me over utterly, from its lush southern setting to the determined vulnerable Harper and her dogged search for the truth."

Bonfire (2017)
Krysten Ritter
"Dark, disturbing, and compulsively readable."

Our Little Secret (2017)
Roz Nay
"A cracking read. Our Little Secret builds to a deliciously dark conclusion."

Here and Gone (2017)
Haylen Beck
"An almost unbearably tense nail-biter of a novel. Cancel all your plans and settle in for the ride…"

Every Last Lie (2017)
Mary Kubica
"A page-turning whodunit, and a moving account of grief."

It's Always the Husband (2017)
Michele Campbell
"A page-turning whodunnit that will speak to anyone who's ever had a frenemy."

Dangerous Crossing (2017)
Rachel Rhys
"A gorgeously atmospheric read, prepare to be transported . . ."

The River At Night (2017)
Erica Ferencik
"Raw, relentless and heart-poundingly real, this book knocked me off my feet like a river in flood."

Arrowood (2016)
Laura McHugh
"Kept me guessing and re-guessing all the way to its inexorable conclusion."

The Woman Next Door (2016)
Cass Green
"Had me gripped from first page to last."

The Plea (2016)
(Eddie Flynn, book 2)
Steve Cavanagh
"Steve Cavanagh pulls off an enviable premise with panache."

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