In a Dark, Dark Wood

In a Dark, Dark Wood
Book cover
AuthorRuth Ware
LanguageEnglish
GenrePsychological thriller
Set inLondon
Northumberland
PublisherScout Press
Publication date2015
Pages496
ISBN9781501112317

In a Dark, Dark Wood is a 2015 psychological thriller novel by British author Ruth Ware. The novel follows Leonora Shaw, a reclusive writer who wakes in hospital with amnesia after attending a deadly hen party at a remote glass house in the English countryside.

Plot

Crime writer Leonora "Nora" Shaw receives a surprise invitation to the hen party of Clare, her childhood best friend, to whom she has not spoken in 10 years. She ultimately agrees to attend together with her friend Nina, another classmate who is now a doctor. Flo, Clare's best friend from university, and Clare's other friends Melanie and Tom are also in attendance.

Nora and Nina travel from London to a modernist glass holiday home in the Kielder Forest. The house has a single landline phone and a spotty mobile signal, as well as a shotgun loaded with blanks for scaring off rabbits. Nora goes for an afternoon run and encounters Clare on the way back. Clare tells Nora that she is marrying James, Nora's ex-boyfriend from secondary school. The couple broke up at 16 after Nora (who went by "Lee" at school) became pregnant. Nora had an abortion after a text from James telling her not to call him. She then transferred to a new school and lost contact with James and Clare. James is now a successful actor, while Nora has found it hard to get over the breakup.

The other guests are unnerved by Flo's erratic and clingy behaviour; she copies Clare's outfits and is obsessed with creating the "perfect weekend" for Clare. Returning from a morning run the next day, Nora finds fresh footprints in the snow between the house and the garage. Melanie discovers the landline is down and decides to leave early, worried about her six-month-old son. That day, the five remaining attendees go clay pigeon shooting. At night, they hear a door swaying in the wind. Flo grabs the shotgun to intimidate any intruders; they lock the door and return to bed. Later, they again hear noises and see a man climbing the stairs. The shotgun goes off in Flo's hands, having apparently been loaded with live shells from the shooting range.

Nora is shocked to see that the man is James, bleeding badly. Clare drives off with James to hospital, apparently mishearing Tom's instructions to wait for Nina. The last thing Nora remembers is running after Clare's car; she wakes up in hospital with bruises, cuts, and amnesia. Nora is interviewed by the police and learns that James is dead and Clare is unconscious; James would likely have survived, but died after Clare crashed her car. Nina reveals to Nora that Flo has attempted suicide via paracetamol overdose.

The police confront Nora with her mobile phone, which contains texts to James telling him to come to the house. In addition, Nora's fingerprints are on the steering wheel of Clare's car; the police suspect Nora tried to crash the vehicle after Clare picked her up. Nora believes she is being framed, but cannot trust her own memory. Escaping from hospital, Nora returns to the house, now a crime scene. She remembers finding a coat with the missing shotgun blanks after Clare drove off, which suggests the coat's owner loaded the gun. However, she is uncertain whether it belonged to Clare or Flo, given their similar fashion sense.

Clare arrives at the house and tries to convince Nora that Nora crashed the car due to her jealousy. Nora suddenly recalls that in James' breakup text, he addressed her as "Lee" instead of "Leo" (his pet name for her). She realises that Clare sent the text from James' phone, instigating their breakup so she could date him. When James found out about Clare's deception, he wanted to call off the wedding unless Clare told Nora the truth. Clare decided to kill James instead—and frame Nora—to preserve her "perfect" public image. Flo and Clare sent the texts to James from Nora's phone during the times she was out running; they made the footprints in the snow while searching for a mobile signal at the property.

Nora flees, pursued by Clare in her car, but Clare crashes into a police vehicle arriving at the house. Waking up again in hospital, Nora learns that Clare is injured and now the only suspect in James' death. Flo later dies of her overdose. Nora returns home to London and considers getting a coffee with James' best man Matt.

Background

In a Dark, Dark Wood is Ware's first thriller novel and her first book written under a pseudonym, after several young adult fantasy novels published under her birth name, Ruth Warburton.[1][2] It is also the first release of Simon & Schuster's Scout Press imprint.[3][4]

Ware originally wanted to set the book in Scotland, but changed the setting to Northumberland due to her unfamiliarity with Scottish policing; she would later use a Scottish Highlands setting for her novel The Turn of the Key.[5] In an interview, she called hen parties "the perfect setting for a thriller" because they involve "a group of quite disparate people thrown together" where "emotions are running high."[6] According to Ware, the novel's glass house setting took inspiration from the Scream horror film franchise, which features "shots where the camera is circling the house looking in through the windows."[6] However, she said the house itself was "totally made up... though it does owe a lot to some of the more crazy, modernist projects on Grand Designs."[7] Ware also described her writing as influenced by Agatha Christie, although more emotional and less detached than Christie's stories.[6]

Reception

In a Dark, Dark Wood appeared on multiple bestseller lists, including The New York Times[8] and Publishers Weekly.[9] The novel was listed in Publishers Weekly's longest-running print bestsellers in trade paperback for both 2016 and 2017.[10][11]

Jean Zimmerman, for NPR, said In a Dark, Dark Wood was a "suspenseful debut novel" and "an easy read, with some fun twists and turns."[4] The Guardian's Laura Wilson wrote: "Even though it's easy to guess what's going to happen, some excellent characterisation gives the ending a mesmerising, slow-motion car-crash appeal."[12] Charles Finch, for USA Today, admired the book's "intriguing premise", "eerie atmosphere", and "fluid storytelling" while criticising its reliance on amnesia as a plot point.[13]

Entertainment Weekly's Isabella Biedenharn called In a Dark, Dark Wood a "twisting, electrifying debut" whose "foggy atmosphere and chilling revelations will leave you breathless."[14] In October 2015, actress Reese Witherspoon recommended the novel on her Instagram account, writing: "I almost bit all my fingernails off!"[15][16] In a 2026 New York Times article, author Mary Kubica named the book as one of her favorite thriller novels set in remote cabins, saying it would "keep you turning the pages late into the night."[17]

Kirkus Reviews wrote that the book's ending was "pretty predictable", but praised Ware's ability to create "a unique setting" and "a constant undercurrent of danger."[18] Publishers Weekly called the book "solid but somewhat derivative," adding: "Ware does a competent job ratcheting up the suspense, but the revelations aren't as exciting as the buildup."[19]

Adaptation

In September 2015, it was announced that Reese Witherspoon was developing a film based on In a Dark, Dark Wood, with New Line Cinema acquiring the film rights.[20] Screenwriter Arash Amel joined the project in 2018.[21]

References

  1. ↑ Beck, Lia (9 October 2025). "How to Read Ruth Ware's Books in Order of Release". Cosmopolitan. Archived from the original on 31 October 2025. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  2. ↑ Webley Adler, Kayla (9 October 2025). "How 'The Woman In Cabin 10' Author Turned Her Childhood Fantasies Into A Crime Thriller Empire". Elle. Archived from the original on 3 December 2025. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  3. ↑ Szewczyk, Elaine (20 May 2022). "Ruth Ware Is Back with a New Murder Mystery". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on 18 January 2026. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  4. 1 2 Zimmerman, Jean (18 August 2015). "'Dark, Dark' Doings In A Slick Debut Thriller". NPR. Archived from the original on 26 September 2025. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  5. ↑ Ware, Ruth (10 July 2019). "Location, location, location -". Archived from the original on 19 February 2026. Retrieved 16 June 2026.
  6. 1 2 3 "'Scream' Meets Agatha Christie In 'A Dark, Dark Wood'". NPR. 10 August 2015. Archived from the original on 26 September 2025. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  7. ↑ Ware, Ruth (17 February 2019). "The Setting for The Lying Game -". Archived from the original on 20 January 2026. Retrieved 28 March 2026.
  8. ↑ Cowles, Gregory (27 July 2016). "Inside the List". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 15 December 2023. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  9. ↑ "This Week's Bestsellers: August 17, 2015". Publishers Weekly. 14 August 2015. Archived from the original on 15 March 2025. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  10. ↑ Maryles, Daisy (13 January 2017). "The Year in Bestsellers 2016". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on 26 November 2022. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  11. ↑ Hartman, Liz (12 January 2018). "The Bestsellers of 2017". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on 13 February 2026. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  12. ↑ Wilson, Laura (22 August 2015). "The best recent thrillers – review roundup". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 12 November 2025. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  13. ↑ Finch, Charles (16 August 2015). "Finding thrills in 'A Dark, Dark Wood'". USA Today. Archived from the original on 30 March 2025. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  14. ↑ Biedenharn, Isabella (30 July 2015). "'In a Dark, Dark Wood' by Ruth Ware: EW review". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 27 November 2024. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  15. ↑ Boog, Jason (15 October 2017). "Bookstagrammers Gain Influence in a Diffuse Marketplace". Publishers Weekly. Archived from the original on 10 February 2026. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  16. ↑ Maloney, Jennifer (7 April 2016). "Reese Witherspoon's New Role: Power Broker". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 10 April 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  17. ↑ Kubica, Mary (29 January 2026). "Solitude, Beauty, Murder: Thrillers Set in Remote Cabins". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 19 March 2026. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  18. ↑ "IN A DARK, DARK WOOD | Kirkus Reviews". Kirkus Reviews. 5 May 2015. Archived from the original on 24 February 2024. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  19. ↑ "In a Dark, Dark Wood". Publishers Weekly. 29 June 2015. Archived from the original on 16 January 2026. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  20. ↑ McNary, Dave (29 September 2015). "Reese Witherspoon Developing 'In a Dark, Dark Wood' Movie". Variety. Archived from the original on 25 January 2025. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
  21. ↑ Wiseman, Andreas (6 March 2018). "Reese Witherspoon & New Line Set 'A Private War' Scribe For 'In A Dark Dark Wood' Adaptation". Deadline. Archived from the original on 16 October 2025. Retrieved 19 March 2026.
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