Title: The Guest List
Author: Lucy Foley
Published: June 2020, William Morrow
Format: Hardcover, 313 pages
Source: Personal copy
Summary:
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 ‧ 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?
My thoughts: After reading The Hunting Party last year, I became an instant fan of Lucy Foley’s writing and knew I would be reading whatever else she wrote. I was so excited to see that her latest book was one of April’s Book of the Month’s selections and immediately selected it as my very first choice…how fitting!
I devoured this book. I read it with two other girls as a buddy read and the three of us could not read it fast enough. Even though there are many characters – and I will admit that I did have to create a little cheat sheet to keep everyone straight at first – eventually I did not have to refer to notes because once I really got into the book, I felt I knew who they all were.
I love when I don’t necessarily love all the characters and this is definitely the case with this book. The cast of people assembled here for the wedding are certainly an interesting group and we see that not is all as it appears to be with
them. The layers are slowly pealed back as we dig deeper into them all and what we learn is startling to say the least!
Once again, the setting of Lucy Foley’s book really comes into play. A remote, isolated location, and a crazy storm happens and then someone is found dead. But again, it’s not until the end that you find out who and why. I love this because you are left wondering the entire time who it is and what happened to cause their death. And believe me, guess as you might, it will probably be quite the shocker – it definitely was for me!
I loved this book…I actually loved it more than The Hunting Party, which I thought was great. I am such a fan of Lucy Foley and cannot wait to see what she writes next. Have you read her books yet?
I just added this one to my TBR. The Hunting Party looked so good but I have to say this one looks even better!