The Guest List by Lucy Foley
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Published: 05 May 2020, William Morrow
Swathi’s Rating: 4.5/5
About the Book:
A wedding celebration turns dark and deadly in this deliciously wicked and atmospheric thriller reminiscent of Agatha Christie from the author of The Hunting Party.
The bride
‧
The plus one
‧
The best man
‧
The wedding planner
‧
The bridesmaid
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The body
On an island off the coast of Ireland, guests gather to celebrate two people joining their lives together as one. The groom: handsome and charming, a rising television star. The bride: smart and ambitious, a magazine publisher. It’s a wedding for a magazine, or for a celebrity: the designer dress, the remote location, the luxe party favors, the boutique whiskey. The cell phone service may be spotty and the waves may be rough, but every detail has been expertly planned and will be expertly executed.
But perfection is for plans, and people are all too human. As the champagne is popped and the festivities begin, resentments and petty jealousies begin to mingle with the reminiscences and well wishes. The groomsmen begin the drinking game from their school days. The bridesmaid not-so-accidentally ruins her dress. The bride’s oldest (male) friend gives an uncomfortably caring toast.
And then someone turns up dead. Who didn’t wish the happy couple well? And perhaps more important, why?
Swathi’s thoughts:
Last year I had read Lucy Foley’s The Hunting Party and was very much looking forward to reading this one as soon as I heard about the Blurb. I loved the premise – multiple characters, a wedding, an isolated island, and a murder. One thing I knew and loved about Lucy’s writing is her ability to ace multiple PoV’s in her narration and this book is just her best yet.
Meet the gorgeous and confident bride Jules, a magazine owner who is getting married to the handsome, charismatic Will in a remote island several miles away from Ireland, a location she chose to avoid the paps and also to her Irish roots intact.
Aoife and Freddy are the wedding planner couple who help Jules on her much awaited, intricately planned wedding as the guest start reaching the remote place through boats. Everything is so perfect, the wedding couple, wedding dress, even the perfectly made wedding cake is all set and looks delicious. So, what could possibly go wrong in this absolutely stunning island?
Written from the perspectives of several key characters, we get to know about each of them, the or past and also the events leading to the night of wedding. There’s this tense that keeps creeping up slowly as the chapters grow and that’s how we know something really bad is going to happen!
The author is go good at bringing out the ‘feel’ about the location and her characters. The details of the remote island makes you want to go there and also gives you creeps at night! The characters are well developed, with multiple layers of history making them all suspects to the impending murder. Such razor sharp and crisp chapters that rolled as smooth as butter. Loved this book and definitely Lucy’s best! Highly recommended.
Many thanks to William Morrow and Netgalley for my galley. All options are mine.
Meet the Author:
Lucy Foley studied English literature at Durham University and University College London and worked for several years as a fiction editor in the publishing industry. She is the author of The Book of Lost and Found and The Invitation. She lives in London.
