The Woman in Suite 11 by Ruth Ware
10 years after the traumatic events of The Woman in Cabin 10, Lo Blacklock faces a new danger. Discover more about the sequel in this review.
With a Netflix adaptation of The Woman in Cabin 10* coming out later this year, it's no surprise that Ruth Ware has written a sequel to her 2016 novel.
While The Woman in Suite 11* is a sequel, it also feels like a standalone novel. That's because so much time has passed; it's ten years since the events of the original book. Lo's life has changed significantly since her previous adventure/nightmare journey.
In the new story, Lo is living in New York with her family, but she steps back into the world of journalism for the opening of a luxury hotel in Switzerland. While there, she encounters the woman in suite 11 and a whole new thriller unfolds.
The pace felt a bit slower than I've experienced in the author's other books. I think that's partly down to the setup of the story, which highlights how much has changed for Lo since we last saw her. The ending brought more pace and action to the story, although the twists were ones you could see coming a few chapters ahead.
It would be hard to match the intensity of the darkest parts of the first novel, and in comparison to that, this story felt very different. Also, I struggled to see why the police were so focused on Lo. The evidence appears quite flimsy and yet that is made a major plot point.
Unlike a typical detective series, where the lead characters pick up a new case in each book, with some character development too, Suite 11 is a very different kind of sequel. In the book's acknowledgements, the author recognises the difference in writing a sequel for the first time rather than another standalone novel.
While you could read this book without having read Cabin 10, I'd recommend the original story first. It'll give you more context and you'll get more enjoyment from this story. But be aware that the two books do differ in pace.
