The Guest List: A Novel - book cover
  • Publisher : William Morrow Paperbacks
  • Published : 03 Aug 2021
  • Pages : 336
  • ISBN-10 : 0062868942
  • ISBN-13 : 9780062868947
  • Language : English

The Guest List: A Novel

A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BEST THRILLERS OF THE YEAR

"I loved this book. It gave me the same waves of happiness I get from curling up with a classic Christie...The alternating points of view keep you guessing, and guessing wrong." - Alex Michaelides, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Silent Patient

"Evok[es] the great Agatha Christie classics…Pay close attention to seemingly throwaway details about the characters' pasts. They are all clues." -- New York Times Book Review

A wedding celebration turns dark and deadly in this deliciously wicked and atmospheric thriller reminiscent of Agatha Christie from the New York Times bestselling 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?

Editorial Reviews

"Evoking the great Agatha Christie classics And Then There Were None and Murder on the Orient Express, Lucy Foley's clever, taut new novel, The Guest List, takes us to a creepy island off the coast of Ireland…Foley builds her suspense slowly and creepily, deploying an array of narrators bristling with personal secrets…Pay close attention to seemingly throwaway details about the characters' pasts. They are all clues." -- New York Times Book Review

I didn't think Lucy Foley could top The Hunting Party, but she did! I loved this book. It gave me the same waves of happiness I get from curling up with a classic Christie. A remote, atmospheric island, a wedding no one is particularly happy to be at, old secrets – and a murder. The alternating points of view keep you guessing, and guessing wrong. I can't wait for her next book. -- Alex Michaelides, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Silent Patient

"Murder on the Orient Express and And Then There Were None rolled into one...Fans of Christie, Louise Penny, and Ruth Rendell will absolutely love this book." -- Library Journal (starred review)

"Lucy Foley gets better with every book...The characters leap off the page, the twists are darker and more unexpected, and the setting is straight out of a Gothic novel...Yes, there's a murder, but there's so much more than that. (The twists, I admit, are pretty good too.)" -- Marie Claire

"Lucy Foley has done it again....Cozy up with this whodunnit and watch the hours fly by." -- Good Housekeeping

"An updated Murder on the Orient Express." -- Booklist

"Wedding season means a thrilling web of mystery in The Guest List." -- Parade

"[Foley's] puzzle is solid, she plays fair with the reader, and overall her story is swift and entertaining." -- Seattle Times

"Easily my favorite book of 2020 so far...Will keep you guessing until the very end." -- Better Homes & Gardens

"No one may have come to the island intending to murder, but this destination wedding spirals into mayhem when it's slowly revealed that most everyone in attendance is capable of becoming a lusting-for-revenge killer."
-- Washington Post

"This thrilling page turner will have you guessing until the very end." -- OK! Magazine

"This juicy murder mystery is a perfect Agatha Christie–esque summer read." -- Afar Magazine

"An Agatha Christie-like thriller." -- Huffington Post

"Foley delivers another atmospheric, Agatha Christie-style whodunit with The Guest List. The multiple points of view will keep you guessing right until the end." --...

Readers Top Reviews

FionacC. MurphyKindl
I love crime fiction and I have read a lot of it, but, dear God, this book is terrible. The characters were stereotypes and mostly unpleasant and I hoped that most of them would be bumped off. Towards the end of the book I just skimmed each page as it was so predictable and over written. Please people, buy a book by Sara Paretsky instead of this nonsense. Oh and I guessed the ending half-way through the book.
vic
Impossible to put down, amazing and intriguing characters that kept surprising you until the very end
Mark
Well written whodunit told from multiple points of view, centered on a high profile wedding set at a remote island. One thing I haven't seen mentioned is the wit and insight the author shows, providing many "out loud" laughs throughout this dark thriller. Especially amusing is the social climbing, entitled Bride-zilla at the center of the proceedings. This is my first Lucy Foley book but I find myself wanting more.
lynette williams
each chapter is from one of guest at the wedding it gives an insight in who they are it is not until the near end you will find out who is the victum
Kathy Vikre
Good craic from start to finish. A wedding on an isolated island that seems to want its own revenge. Walk right and you fall from a cliff, walk left and you drown in quicksand. Try swimming and you're caught in riptides. And what about the bodies buried in the bog? Not an especially safe place for drinking and cavorting (which the guests do non-stop). The author could have a franchise based on her characters: Death at the Stag, Who Smothered Mother, Bullies I Have Known! (no spoilers here) Into this menacing locale come our heroes, aging schoolboys, unhappy wives, dis-functional families, all of whom seem capable of homicide. So who dies, who kills the victim, and why? Read the book and enjoy the journey of discovery.