The Guest List by Lucy Foley

The Guest List is the fifth novel and second thriller by Lucy Foley. I read her first thriller, The Hunting Party, many years ago, but hadn’t got round to reading any of her other books. I found The Guest List in our free village bus stop library. I’ve had some good finds there lately – including Your Are Here, This Must Be The Place and Before We Say Goodbye.

The Guest List is a classic locked room kind of murder mystery, with a limited number of suspects in a small space. Handsome TV presenter, Will, is getting married to successful online magazine editor, Jules, after a whirlwind romance. The wedding is taking place on a remote island off the coast of Ireland.

At first, The Guest List reminded me a bit of Murder on Lake Garda, because that is also a celebrity wedding with a small group of suspects. But The Guest List is a much better read! It’s probably the best page turner I’ve read all year.

Right at the start of the book, we know that a body has been found on the island. But we don’t know whose body or how they have died.

The action then rewinds to the day before, when the wedding party arrives on the island. The chapters are all in the first person from some of the key characters – the bride, the wedding planner, the bridesmaid, the best man and ‘the plus one’ – the bride’s best friend’s wife. Nearly all of the characters are horrible – particularly the bride and groom. Throughout the book, we hear a lot about the ushers, who are also horrible. Will, the best man and the ushers are still obsessed with their school days at a boys’ boarding school.

The bride and groom are extremely shallow and mainly concerned about how they look both individually and as a couple. They want all their guests to be impressed with their wedding. But not all of the guests will behave as they’d hoped they would. The dramatics of Jules’s sister and the drunken pranks of the ushers are threatening to ruin the day. And, to make matters worse, a storm is whipping up and the island is a dangerous place where drunk guests could get sucked into a bog…

The Guest List has so many twists and turns. I just couldn’t put it down. It’s not until very late on that we find out who the victim is. And there are still a lot of suspects!

If you enjoy a murder mystery, I can’t recommend The Guest List highly enough. I’ll need to read more of Lucy Foley’s books now.