One by One

Ware follows her homage to Henry James (The Turn of the Key) with one to Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. A group of stakeholders in a digital startup, Snoop, have converged on a chalet in the Alps to discuss whether to accept a large buyout or wait, with the hopes of going public and making even more money. The deciding vote will be cast by Liz, a former assistant who received two shares in the business in exchange for a small loan early on and who left the company under mysterious circumstances. Chapters shift between the viewpoints of Liz and Erin, the chalet’s housekeeper who is concealing her own connection to Snoop’s magnetic cofounder. After the other cofounder disappears while skiing a dangerous run that was supposed to be closed, an avalanche strands the group at the chalet with no electricity, phone service, or internet connection. Then more people start dying. Ware’s gifts for characterization, plot, and pacing shine here. The tension slowly ratchets up, culminating in a dangerous ski chase in the dark.