In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

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In a Dark Dark Wood grabbed my attention, even though the story dragged on and on. I found myself desperate to find out what happens next. I think I liked this story partly because I could relate to the main character, Nora, because I also had an evil best friend that did similar things as Clare. Namely, destroying your character by making up lies while they convince you they are trying to "help" you. I sometimes wonder what has become of her, and honestly hope karma comes back to her at some point, but I guess I'll never know.

The main character, Nora, is invited to a weekend at a bachelorette party of her childhood best friend, Clare. Nora had a falling out with Clare and hasn't talked to her in many years, so she was surprised to get the invitation. She was hesitant to attend, but her mutual friend, Nina said she'd go with her, and the host of the party Flo told her Clare really wants her there, so Nora decided to go with Nina. At the bachelorette party, Clare convinced her the reason why Nora had to come was because Clare wants to tell Nora in person who the groom is. Apparently, the groom is Nora's ex-boyfriend James. James and Nora have not spoken in 10 years, but Nora never got over him. They broke up when Nora found out they were pregnant, at age 16. When James learned of the pregnancy, he sent Nora a cold text to tell her she needs to take care of it and don't contact him again. Back to present, James shows up to the bachelorette party, surprising everyone. They thought he was an intruder, and Flo fired a gun at him - she had only planned on scaring him because she thought the gun only contained blanks. We learn towards the end of the book that Clare had changed out the shells and planted evidence on Nora so it would appear Nora killed James. Nora wants to know why. Before the party, James and Clare had a heart to heart confession moment. Clare told James about the text she sent to Nora 10 years ago, pretending to be James to cut off the relationship. She thought James would find it sweet. He didn't. Instead, they had a big fight and he insisted on Clare having a bachelorette party, invite Nora and personally apologize. Unwilling to take any blame, Clare planned on killing James at the party by luring him to the party using Nora's phone and sending him texts as Nora. Nora eventually figured it out herself, as the text she got from James 10 years prior referred her as "Lee", where as James always called her "Leo". (Clare and everyone else calls her Lee.) Flo feels culpable in what happened, as one of the texts was sent by her, as the instruction of Clare. She ends up committing suicide. The police figures out Clare is the killer. Clare tries to drug Nora but the police showed up in the nick of time and rescues her.

Interesting bit - the story takes place in "Northumberland" which is the same name as the street I used to live on!

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