
Last year, nearly 1% of all the fiction published in the U.S. reportedly contained the word “girl” in the title. Of course, that’s because of the successes of books like Paula Hawkins’s The Girl on the Train, Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl, and Stieg Larsson’s Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy.
One of last year’s hit books is hopefully a signal that titles are growing up.
In The Woman in Cabin 10, travel writer Lo Blacklock has finally gotten her big break. Her boss is on maternity leave and has handpicked Lo to take her place reporting on the maiden voyage of The Aurora Borealis, a luxury cruise ship marketed to ultra-wealthy vacationers. Everything would be great if only she could get past the anxiety she’s been experiencing since she was trapped in her apartment by a burglar. If only she didn’t need to treat that anxiety with copious amounts of alcohol. If only she wasn’t awoken in the middle of the night by the sounds of a possible murder in the room next to her’s. And if only there was some evidence that anyone had ever even occupied that room.
Lo may be a full-grown woman now, but she isn’t a very proactive one. Most of the plot happens around her and she’s just along for the ride. You’ll probably want to go along too, just to see if you figured out the mystery.
I bet you will have.