Why oh why do I keep reading Ruth Ware? Because I hold on to the apparently futile hope that her novels will get better? The first Ruth Ware novel that I read was her first novel, In a Dark, Dark Wood, and I read it because Reese Witherspoon said to “Prepare to be scared… really scared!” I found it a little creepy, but not scary at all, and it was too predictable. The next Ruth Ware novel that I read was The Death of Mrs. Westaway. Again, it was predictable, but I really could not stand the protagonist, so I vowed to never waste my time on a Ruth Ware novel again. So why did I read One By One? Because my mom gave it to me and she said it was “good”, which is a glowing endorsement from my mother as she is the pickiest reader. One By One is a bit better than the other two novels that I have read, but it was still too easy predict the outcome.

One By One is about a group of coworkers from a tech company called Snoop who go on a corporate retreat at a fancy ski chalet in the French Alps. One of the cofounders of the company announces that there is a buyout offer, which immediately sours the entire retreat as the other cofounder does not want to sell. The shareholders of the company are evenly divided between selling and not selling, except for one shareholder, Liz, who does not work for the company anymore. She was a two percent stake in the company that will be the deciding vote and puts her in a tough position as she can see the sense in selling the company, but she also feels loyalty towards the cofounder who does not want to sell.

Things get worse, though, when one of the group does not return from a ski run and then a storm passes through, causing a massive avalanche that cuts the chalet off from the rest of the world. They lose power and cell phone coverage, and the ski run to the village at the bottom of the mountain has been obliterated. Then someone in the group starts picking off the others, one by one.

I will give Ruth Ware credit for the twist in the novel, which although was still predictable, it was one that I do not think I have ever come across in a novel (and one that I wish that would have read before). The biggest problem with One By One, though, is the characterization, or lack thereof. The novel is told from the perspective of two characters: Erin, who works at the chalet as the housekeeper, and Liz, the shareholder with the deciding vote. These two characters are given depth, but they are not very original. And as for the supporting characters, well they are all just caricatures of corporate workers.

If you like mysteries, maybe you will like One By One, but the blurb on the inside cover makes it sound way more interesting than it really is.