Title: One by One
Author: Ruth Ware
Published: 2020
Call #: FIC WARE
When members of the streaming app Snoop head to a swanky ski chalet, they quickly find the least exciting part of their trip will be the skiing. The retreat is sprung forth by founders of the company, Topher and Ava, who are aware they are in a bind. The company has received a buyout offer, but they are on opposite sides of the issue and the other shareholders quickly take alliances, leaving Liz in the middle. When compared with former model Ava, Liz has always felt awkward and drab. Liz both feels she owes the company and resents the founders for pushing her out years before.
The ski chalet is run by caretaker, Erin, and the chef, Danny. They see the friction among Snoop members but are sure it’s typical corporate politics at play. However, when the group returns from their first skiing rendezvous with only 8 of the 9 who went out, Erin realizes she must try to get help. However, the inclement weather which sent the group back early only continues, causing an avalanche which traps them. When a second member of the group is later found poisoned and a third is strangled, Snoop members sees they are dropping one by one… If no one can come or go, who is to blame?
Ruth Ware utilizes the familiar trope we admire of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. This closed circle mystery keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time. The story is told using alternating first-person accounts from Erin and Liz. The Kirkus Review sums it up with perfection, “The solution is maddeningly simple but the construction, simply masterful.”
Erin I.
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