The Guest List

By Lucy Foley

William Morrow     2020

320 pages     Thriller

“And then the lights go out.”

WoW! How I loved The Guest List by Lucy Foley. It has everything that one yearns for in a psychological thriller—interesting characters, a creepy setting, plot twists and turns, and suspense. It took me nearly to the end of the book to figure out who was going to be murdered, and most surprisingly, the murderer.

The setting is an island off the coast of Ireland that has been converted into a special events venue. It has been chosen to be the wedding site for a powerhouse digital magazine editor (apparently the perfect woman) and a handsome, reality TV superstar (also perfect). The guests arrive by ferry boat, and as they arrive, the story develops. The wedding planners have created the perfect setting for the perfect wedding. What could go wrong? Well, just like in Agatha Christie novels, with bated breath, we know that something terrible can and will happen.

I was particularly enamored with the way Foley set up the novel. The chapters are divided by narrators, but she has drawn the characters so skillfully, the reader can keep distinct the huge panoply of characters and personalities. One of my complaints in many novels with a lot of characters is that the reader needs to keep a list to help remember the characters. Didn’t have to do it this time. The Crime by the Book reviewer says that The Guest List “is a delicious blend of classic crime setup and wicked, sometimes truly nasty, characters with a dramatic bent.” Among the characters are a group of men that went to boarding school with the bridegroom. Not much good can come from this reunion or these men. Other characters are more deserving of your sympathy, including the wife of the bride’s best friend, and the bride’s sister.

As the mystery develops and the plot thickens, the reader realizes that the terrible storm attacking the island, as well as the island itself, are terrific plot devices—almost as good as the murder itself. By the end of the novel, I was totally creeped out by the bluffs, the bogs, the caves, the cold, the rain, and the darkness. One character says, “Everything seems changed on this island. It’s as though the place is doing it, that we’ve been brought here for a reason.” And quite apparently, they were “brought here for a reason.”

I don’t want to disclose too much of the plot. Suffice it to say that it is nearly perfectly constructed. It is classic murder mystery at its best. The Guest List is on many best of the summer lists. And oh, the cleverness of it all. Very impressive.