Before embarking on her writing career as Ruth Ware, Warburton wrote five young-adult fantasy novels, all of which were published by Hodder's Children Books.
[6] Ware's protagonists are usually ordinary women who find themselves in dangerous situations involving a crime.
The first two of Ware's novels feature a murder mystery with a group of people trapped, or otherwise restricted from immediately escaping the dangerous environment.
[7] Ware and Christie both choose settings and situations that foster the sense of dread that propels their characters to paranoia and often they react violently as a result.
[8] Ware's settings play a key role in drawing in the reader and are as essential and integral to her story as the characters.