The Guest List was such a wonderful mystery. It was clever, fast-paced and so atmospheric. It had great characters and an intriguing plot. But, the best thing about the book was the way in which it was written; it started with the lights going out and a scream in the dark on the night of the murder and then bounced back and forth in time, which was brilliant. It wasn’t until almost the end of the book that you even found out who was murdered! Adding to the enjoyment was having chapters written from the different characters’ points of view. This was a fun take on a classic who-dunnit that I could not put down.

My copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to the the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review it.

In a crowded field of British locked room, multiple narrator, slow-burn mystery writers, Lucy Foley stands out as one of the best. I really enjoyed The Hunting Party so was very excited to get a preview of the Guest List. Was happy to learn the premise was similar to her Agatha Christie-like setup in The Hunting Party - a group of suspects, stranded on an island, each with their own reasons for committing a murder.

Lucy Foley's slow burners work because she is masterful at building interesting characters and suspense before the reveal of the crime. By that time, you already have a good sense of the characters, which ones you like and dislike, and which one you think may have "dunit." I also like how she frequently hides the identify of the victim for awhile (both here and in the Hunting Party) and provides you with many people in the story you might like to see knocked off. Her cast of characters here is similar to the Hunting Party: the misfit, the cad (there is actually more than one cad here!), the prom queen, the golden boy and the (presumably) detached outside party are all present. Foley is great at giving each multiple narrator her own voice, so you won't get mixed up even as the story jumps around to be told by various wedding guests. And all of the characters have secrets.

This was as good as The Hunting Party, with another worthy ending (I think I liked this ending even more than The Hunting Party!). Foley continues to write novels clearly influenced by Agatha Christie that are fully modern and original. I'm looking forward to her next mystery.

Many thanks to Lucy Foley, NetGalley and Harper Collins Publishers for the early copy in exchange for my honest review!

All I ask of a suspenseful thriller is thrilling suspense. I require at least one heart-stopping twist that I didn't see coming. The characters can be shallow: in fact they can be forgotten from the instant I turn the last page.

The setting: a destination wedding at a lousy destination, with a Bridezilla, of course, and enormous expense, naturally. A dead body turns up. There are multiple points of view, each one positioned with a purpose, and the author switches among all of them, seamlessly. No one gets in the way of the growing dread. A tangled web of secrets untangles. People are unmasked. Revelations knock down one by one at a perfect pace.

No expensive destination wedding thriller would be any good without Social Media, so of course at least some of the secrets involve the difference between the Instagram Self and the True Self.

The whole spooky-atmosphere thing with the creepy remote island does not work in this novel despite the author's very best efforts: there are random guests wandering around outside, quicksand, storms, candlelight, etc. etc. and it simply does not congeal. The lack of convincing creepy in the setting is saved by the creepiness of the wedding party, and boy are they ever creepy. The groomsmen are skin-crawling creepy.

As for the final twist at the end, Foley nails it like a gold medal gymnast.

I received an advanced readers copy of this book from the publisher and Netgalley and was encouraged to submit a review.

A fun fast read with an unusual setting. The setting for "The Guest List" is a high profile wedding taking place at a bleak Irish island venue. Each chapter is told from a different character's point of view. The suspense builds as we learn more at each turn, making it hard to put down. Characters were well developed, and the surroundings were described vividly. Toward the end, I was a bit disappointed by the cumulative number of coincidences that evolved, but there were no loose ends.

Reviewed on Goodreads.

Such a good thriller and a great escape for this week in quarantine. If you are looking for a fast read and something that totally sucks you in, then this is it.

The Guest List
A Novel
by Lucy Foley
Listen to an Audio Excerpt
HarperCollins Publishers
William Morrow
Mystery & Thrillers
Pub Date 02 Jun 2020 | Archive Date 02 Jun 2020

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins publishers I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
I will recommend this to our readers when we reopen. In the time of Covid19 I found this book to be a thrilling escape for our day to day activities.

Great read!

Lucy Foley is building a genre to herself. Her style of writing will go down as one of the greatest as she weaves stories and mysteries of characters together into nothing but a brilliance. The Guest List is just as great as her previous The Hunting Party, if not better. A satisfying ending to a wedding that will go down in history, in ways no one could see coming.

I seem to be in the minority with my rating on this one. I had high hopes for The Guest List by Lucy Foley, but unfortunately it fell short! Really short! Chalked fully of forgetful and rather pathetic characters. While I have no issues with books that bounces its narrative from person to person and back and forth in time, this one did not flow right. As I was dragging myself to read each chapter, I was hoping that it would pick up pace and get interesting. That didn't happen until about the 80% mark and it didn't last long. I am only giving The Guest List 2 stars because the end had a couple of things I had not put together. Hard pass here.

Thank you to Netgallery for the free digital copy in exchange for an honest and voluntary review. All opinions are my own. Amazon review to be posted once published.

This is a terrific and well-written suspenseful thriller. A wedding is held on an isolated island off the coast of Ireland, providing a suitable atmosphere. Select people at the wedding are the narrators of the story. The bride, the groom, the bridesmaid, the best man, the wedding planner, and the wife of a guest rotate chapters. As the story unfolds over a single weekend, we learn that each narrator has an issue with the groom. The story is fast-moving, gripping, and excellent, with a mystery that I did not solve. Highly recommend!

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC.

I kept returning to read The Guest List by Lucy Foley, so I think it’s fair to say that I found it to be a fun thriller. I thought the characters were well developed-I really didn’t like very many of them, but the author did a great job of hooking me into the story and what was happening to each person. The shorter chapters switching between characters really keeps the pace up and she created such a wonderful sense of menace throughout the whole book that just builds intensely as the night goes on. There are many predictable ways that the author could have proceeded with this story, but I think she keeps the reader guessing. There are a few small quibbles I have with some of the connections that emerge, but I don’t want to spoil things by getting into it and it didn’t interfere with my enjoyment of the story. I’ll recommend it to my library patrons!

I love a good wedding mystery. The characters were wonderfully drawn. The island was spooky and a great characters itself. A page turner if ever there was one!

Lucy Foley does not disappoint with her new novel The Guest List - what a suspenseful mystery!

Friends and family of the bride and groom attend a weekend of wedding festivities on a remote island off the coast of Ireland. What should be a fun and joyous celebration quickly turns deadly! However, the reader only learns early on in the novel that a body has been found but must piece together clues intricately woven together through Foley’s use of multiple narrators and a shifting timeline.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the free egalley in exchange for my honest review.

I'm not generally a fan of thriller-type mysteries. And then I read "The Guest List." Early in the book, we know that someone died. We don't know who, how, or why. Keep reading!
One by one, the characters stories unfold, connections are exposed, and hidden histories are revealed. Everyone has something on just about everyone else; there is more than enough motive and opportunity to go around! The web of lies and truths is intricate. It's not until the very end that all the connections gel and the victim, the murderer, and the motive are clear.
This is an exceptionally well-written book. The narrative keeps a good level of tension throughout., with twists,
turns, and some surprising revelations thrown in for good measure.

A quick whodunit with some majorly unlikeable protagonists.

The Guest List feels like a modern Agatha Christie---a group of people with loose connections gathered onto an island plus murder. There is no true detective. The story is told through multiple POVs, not my favorite gimmick, but it works here. Usually, I am skipping ahead to read the POV I like best, but the short, enticing chapters pulled me through. I could have used a bit more wrap up at the end, and yet, what feels more Christie than an abrupt ending?

For Fans of Agatha Christie & Ruth Ware.

Jules has her dream wedding on an isolated island off of Ireland. But everyone on The Guest List has a secret. Including the groom. Little by little the secrets start to unfold and everything starts to unravel. The Guest List is a page turner. And like The Hunting Party I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I love mystery books. This one was a slow build for me, but once I got further into it, I was thoroughly invested. I now plan to read "The Hunting Party".

Generally, I'm annoyed when 70% of the plot either happens or is revealed in the last 10% of the book. This time, however, it was so damn tidy I just can't help admiring the particular curve and bend of that nice little bow the author put on top.

Book Title: Guest List

Author: Lucy Foley

Genre: Thriller

My Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ /5 ⭐

Wow!what a great read! I like this mystery thriller where the plot is super engaging and hooked us up from the very start. The story was narrated by a bunch of character’s points of view. It reminds me of the book ” Big Little Lies ” and one of the “Agatha Christie ” novels (which I forgot the name). As they narrated the events from their perspective we couldn’t stop imagining the other character’s take on it .which speaks about the author’s brilliance way of capturing the reader. All the knots are slowly untied and we could kind of guessed one or two things but otherwise nearly up to the end, we couldn’t predict anything solid to spoil the thrill. I like it though it’s a thriller it doesn’t have any disgusting scenes. But it doesn’t fail to make us feel something bad going to happen. For Mystery lovers I highly recommend it. You can’t put it down without finish it.

Thoughts while reading

If you hate to read any disgusting psychotic scenes but love thrillers otherwise this is the book for you. I appreciate the way it didn’t include anything we regret to read about.
Though the heroine is portrayed as kind of bitchy, bossy control freak the background of her made me admire her. And so I feel pity about her at the end.
The superstitions like the sight of the unlucky bird, the way the rose petals were blown away by the wind were creepy.
Nearly at the end of the story, I could guess the connection between the wedding planner and the hero, though not before that, for the author’s credit.
And I wish by the end they could give some conclusion to Hannah, Charlie’s relationship status. I feel disappointed that they didn’t have any closure ( either good or bad ).
Somehow all the people affected by the villain gathered at one place are believable and couldn’t get away with the feeling of its nature’s way of getting revenge for all his sins.
Disclaimer: Though I receive this book from #NetGalley for an honest review, everything I said here is straight from my heart and not biased in any way.

A high-profile wedding. A creepy remote island. Tensions raised. Secrets held. Revenge planned. All a perfect set-up for a whodunnit book.

Jules and Will are about to be married. They have all of their best family and friends surrounding them for this time of celebration until things all go horribly wrong.

The Guest List is told from the perspectives of a few people, giving you insight into quite a few hidden secrets. Most of these characters I couldn’t really get a good connection with. I’d have to say my best connection was with Hannah, the wife of the bride’s best friend, Charlie. Other than her I felt quite a disconnect with the others. Nothing drew me toward them. Nothing made me empathize with them.

That being said, I must say the setting was eerie and I loved this story’s premise. I love a good whodunnit and this book gave plenty of motives for murder as well as plenty of suspects. Definitely keeps you guessing with some great twists and turns thrown in.

I recommend this one if you’re a fan of Clue. This book was the game played out in real life.

I loved the setup of this novel, seeing the point of view of several characters, most of them wedding party/guests. I loved how both the identity of the murdered and the murderer were kept shrouded until close to the end. A quick read, but a clever one. Thank you, Netgalley, for this arc!