The Nature of Things

Ruth Ware's homage to Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None is set in a remote chalet in the French Alps instead of on a mysterious island, but the air of mystery and dread that slowly descends on the place is much the same. In this case, the chalet is cut off from civilization by an avalanche that knocks out the electricity and phone service and the wi-fi connection to the outside world. Thus a weekend that was meant to be an off-site retreat for a tech company in order to promote mindfulness and collaboration becomes a struggle for survival, made more urgent when people start dying. It is soon evident that the deaths are not natural or accidents and there is a killer among the group. Who will be left alive when the weekend ends or when rescuers manage to make it to the chalet? The chalet is staffed by a chef and a concierge who are good friends. They and the group of co-workers from the tech company are the only people on site. It is soon evident that there are strains i...