I very much enjoyed Lucy Foley's first book and I agreed to read an ARC of this one in exchange for a fair review. I have to admit that I was convinced it would be a bit same-y when measured against The Hunting Party because the plot outline seemed the same: remote location, old friends thrown together, hidden goals and deceptions....but I'm happy to say that is where the similarities stopped. Multiple character viewpoints and a complex story which was masterfully spun and unwound again - this book is an absolute triumph!

I could almost cut and paste my review for the Hunting Party here again.

Foley has cracked one of the codes to a really successful whodunnit. Her method includes the following elements: a remote place (previously the Scottish Highlands, this time an Island off the coast of Ireland); a big suspect list (or should that be guest list?); a timeline that moves from the day of the murder to the day immediately before the events take place - switching back and forward with ease. All of these elements work really well to create a satisfying and unputdownable read. It also means you can’t skip ahead to find out whodunnit because you don’t actually know what has happened until you’re three quarters of the way in!

Some of the coincidences near the conclusion are a little too convenient but did it bother me? Clearly not as I’m still giving this the full 5*s.

As happened with the release of The Hunting Party, I’m only sorry this book won’t be out in time for Christmas because I’d love to give it as a gift!

Many thanks to NetGalley, HarperFiction and Lucy Foley for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What a fabulous read, I loved it!
The book is superbly written. I especially like how the story develops in each chapter with everything coming together at the end. The characters are all strangely engaging.
I’d strongly recommend it, it’s a good one!

You are cordially invited to a wedding and well what a wedding this turned out to be !! Talk about secrets this story is chock full of them and little by little they emerge as the wedding progresses as we are drip fed snippets of clues. I loved the way this book was written each chapter by a different character it was so well crafted and a real page turner.
The characters and there was a lot of them were flawed, mostly obnoxious although not all but this just made the book for me and I thought they were all excellently written.
Set on a small remote island off the coast of Ireland and inhabited only by the wedding planner and her husband it is a very atmospheric setting, all seems good at first but then a storm hits and all hell breaks loose as it seems a body has been seen but who and then “the lights go out” !!
Well I’m afraid you are just going to have to read the book for yourselves to find out more and you won’t be disappointed as this a fabulous read that I really loved.
A book I can highly recommend and I’m sure it’s going to be a big hit and many thanks to Lucy Foley.
My thanks also to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Possibly the best book I have read this year. Even better than The Hunting Party. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and was impossible to put down. The characters were really well developed through the story. Information was drip fed and only really became apparent near the end.
Excellent.
Many Thanks for the opportunity to read and review

The Hunting Party was one of those books that, as I read it, I wished I'd written it myself, and so I had high hopes for The Guest List. Foley doesn't disappoint with her next novel, bringing back her ability to create enticing characters. Her way of writing is flawless, instantly engaging and utterly thrilling.

I have really enjoyed Lucy Foley’s previous work – both her epic historic novels (The Invitation and The Book of Lost and Found), and her last one, which was a crime thriller called The Hunting Party. So when I saw she had a new one out I’m not embarrassed to admit I kind of begged on Twitter for an ARC – and the publisher and Netgalley were kind enough to grant my wish!

Here is the blurb:

“On a remote island, guests gather for the wedding of the year – the marriage of Jules Keegan and Will Slater.

Old friends.
Past grudges.

Happy families.
Hidden jealousies.

Thirteen guests.
One body.

The wedding cake has barely been cut when one of the guests is found dead. And as a storm unleashes its fury on the island, everyone is trapped.
All have a secret. All have a motive.
One guest won’t leave this wedding alive . . .”

From the outset this book had a feel of The Hunting Party – both in terms of content (middle class people in a remote destination) and style (each chapter is told from a different character’s point of view – and it flicks between time periods, so some of it is in the build up to the wedding, and some is from when the body is found). But it is just as brilliant as Ms Foley’s previous book – so why mess with a format that was a best seller!?

This time the setting is a remote island off the Irish coast which is allegedly haunted – and as with all of the author’s previous work – the geographical descriptions are wonderful, along with the wild weather and both really evoke the feeling of being there.

There are huge twists and turns – and you’re never quite sure who you should be rooting for. For a long time any of the characters could have been the victim or the killer! I have to say that Hannah (who was the plus one of the bride’s male BFF) was my favourite character – possibly because she was a mother off the Mum leash for the wedding – something I can totally empathise with – and I also suffer horribly with sea sickness!

Some of the coincidences are a little far fetched – but I guess that often happens in whodunnits like this – and it didn’t spoil the book for me at all.

The chapters build in pace, seemingly getting faster and faster (although perhaps that was just my excited reading?!) – and very cleverly, the final line of a few of the chapters near the end is the same. So smart.

I don’t want to give any spoilers on the victim or the murderer – but it’s good!

As with all of Lucy Foley’s books it’s incredibly well written in terms of language, but also in terms of plot intricacies too, which I really enjoy – I don’t like being spoonfed a storyline. Well done to Ms Foley – and I suspect a fabulous editor – on ensuring no plot holes in something so complex.

I suspect this will be a big hit on the 2020 bestsellers list – so get in early and pre order a copy now ready for its release!

A gathering of friends for a Wedding on a remote island. There may be some there with ulterior motives. This story just bounces along with plot twists, turns and revelations from the past - predominantly the groom’s past.
It’s written with pace and atmosphere and I particularly enjoyed how each chapter was based on a different character in the story and flitted from time frame to time frame - before, during and after the event.
Totally enjoyable.
A must read, to curl up with by the fire; listening to the crashing waves and the howl of the sea - let your imagination run wild like the wind outside.

My thanks to NetGalley and publisher HarperCollins UK, Harper Fiction, for the ARC.
An un-put-downable read! An excellent 'whodunnit murder-mystery' in true Agatha Christie style.

A celebrity wedding is being held on a remote island off the coast of Ireland - accessible only by boat.

The story is told from various points of view -
Aoife who, with her husband, have restored The Folley - a large house with multiple bedrooms, amidst the peat bogs and semi-ruined chapel intended for weddings. The island has a macabre history. Aoife and her husband are hosting the wedding as servants of the bride and groom and their guests. Marquees are set up in the grounds but there is ever-present danger in stepping into the peat bogs or stepping too close to the cliff edge.

Hannah is the Plus One guest to Charlie who is master of ceremonies in the bridal party and she feels rather left=out of things.
Jules is the bride who is prepared to spend what it takes to make an impression.
Olivia is Jules's sister - unstable and unpredictable.
Johnno is the groom's (Will Slater) best man.

Will's mates all attending a disciplined boarding school, along with Johnno who was a scholarship boy.

Old=school shenanigans ensue, to the distaste of some.

Half-heard conversations, full revelations and accidental confrontations bring together the main players in this extremely well-written and atmospheric story. Someone has been murdered - but gradually we learn of all the people who had their own personal motives. Who did it?

Talk about twist and turns! Amazing!
Go get a copy - such a good read.

Jules and Will are the ultimate couple.

A cringe-fest with a cast of Bollinger swigging, coke sniffing hooray-Henries, ex public schoolboys and various partners. All attending the wedding of Will Slater and Julia (Jules) Keegan on a remote island off the Irish coast. Not a likeable character amongst them with the possible exceptions of Aoife, the Wedding Planner and Hannah, the Plus-One. The bride runs a successful, online magazine and the groom has his own "outward bound" TV series. Two high flyers and a load of skeletons in cupboards.

Told over a 48 hour period with plenty of jumping backwards and forwards across the timeline that at times left my head in a spin, the wedding party descends into the worst kind of hedonism and debauchery - and - a murder...

Having previously read The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley, which I thoroughly enjoyed, I regret that I did not like The Guest List, despite the fact that it is well written.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my ARC.

I now officially adore Lucy Foley's books. I read the blurb of this book and thought this is just like her last book, The Hunting Party, the plot sounds really similar. 'The Hunting Party', was a good book so thought I may as well give this one I go.
I was really surprised at how different the two stories are and I really enjoyed The Guest List, I was wrong in thinking the plot lines would be the same.
The plot centres around a wedding party, the main characters are explored and the twists and turns of how the characters lives had entwined before the wedding party is interesting and kept me reading long into the night. I finished this book within 24 hours as I just couldn't put it down.
The characters are a bunch of very flawed people, completely realistic and you feel like you know these people.
A well written book with a great cast of characters, a believable plot line and some twists and turns which you just do not expect.
A fantastic book and worthy of the five stars I have given it. This is a must read for 2020 and will be recommending this to everyone i know.
Many thanks to Net Galley for the chance to read and review this title.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The story is compelling, and I read it in a day as it was so hard to put down. The characters are all believable (even if most of them are appalling) and there is a great sense of place. I will definitely look out for more books by this author.

An excellent novel! The writer has a beautiful and seamlessly flowing narrating style and I literally could jot put the book down.

There’s some events you really would like to be on the invite list for. Lucy Foley’s literary events are one of them. You get to go to some really good places with ‘interesting’ people and if it gets too much you can close the book and have a break. You don’t have to lock yourself in the toilet or hide behind a plant. The guests at this wedding range from media types, botoxed types and ones with more baggage than an airport!

The thing is, I’m getting to like these parties I go to with Lucy. Locked room mysteries and great events with a character list LITERALLY to die for. I’ve only just recovered from that lodge in Scotland and for this novel I found myself being bobbed up and down in a small boat to a remote island. From the start, the setting sets the scene. Who would I met? Who would I like? Who would I get a feeling about that I should avoid?

An island wedding sounded amazing! From the start I was wide- eyed and excited to look around. Finding out about the island and its history really helped to up the sense of foreboding. That was before meeting the cast of misfits. The groom is a TV star and the couple have only known each other for a few months.

There’s some twisty moments in the book and it weaves and twists its way towards the end. The island is dark and foreboding, the weather…stormy, rainy and so awful for a wedding but absolutely for a murder mystery. A perfect storm you might say!

From the arrival on the island to the end of the wedding weekend, this is a literary event for which you need an invite, so get yourself on the Guest list right now!

I am in charge of our Senior School library and am looking for a diverse array of new books to furnish their shelves with and inspire our young people to read a wider and more diverse range of books as they move through the senior school. It is hard sometimes to find books that will grab the attention of young people as their time is short and we are competing against technology and online entertainments.
This was a thought-provoking and well-written read that will appeal to our readers across the board. It had a really strong voice and a compelling narrative that I think would capture their attention and draw them in. It kept me engrossed and I think that it's so important that the books that we purchase for both our young people and our staff are appealing to as broad a range of readers as possible - as well as providing them with something a little 'different' that they might not have come across in school libraries before.
This was a really enjoyable read and I will definitely be purchasing a copy for school so that our young people can enjoy it for themselves. A satisfying and well-crafted read that I keep thinking about long after closing its final page - and that definitely makes it a must-buy for me! Blooming love Lucy Foley and want out students to discover her too

A second thriller from the author of the stunning book The Hunting Party, and it starts by crashing the reader into an atmospheric stormy wedding reception that does not fail to awaken the senses to the ghosts and isolation of the island it is being held on.

As the author breathes the characters to life individually in their connections to each other and a hint of their histories in the ensuing chapters, the reader is given insight into relationships, secrets and grudges. It is in these chapters – the build up to the wedding- that the authors strengths are revealed. It is her ability to connect the reader to her characters that gives the story true credibility.

This story has an underlying current of folklore, tragedy, childhood regrets, betrayal, ghosts and demons all set against a hostile environment of rugged island isolation, cliff tops, caves, bogs, gothic ruins and a graveyard. I could not put this book down. The conclusion is stunning.

As with The Hunting Party, I highly recomme

4-5 stars.

You are cordially invited to the wedding of Julia Keegan, owner of a lifestyle magazine and Will Slater, TV star. The wedding of the year will take place on Inis Amploir (Cormorant Island) off the Irish coast. A boat will be provided to ferry you to and from the island, though the main wedding party will stay in the luxuriously refurbished Folly. It would be wise to take a motion sickness pill prior to boarding the boat as Irish seas can be er ....... unpredictable, so probably best not to wear green or wear vertiginous heels as they could sink into the many peat bogs. So a disparate bunch of invitees make their way to the island and despite the intentions of Aoife, the wedding planner and owner of the island, what develops is a nightmarish gathering from hell. The pair duly marry but a storm is raging outside and inside, a waitress screams, the lights go out, a few of the guests stumble drunkenly outside to work out what’s happening. There’s the danger of the cliff edge and peat bogs to swallow you up. Is someone dead? Who? What unravels is very atmospheric and tense and towards the end you find you are holding your breathe as you could cut the atmosphere with a knife. Literally.

This slow burning psychological thriller is very well written. The account of the events includes five perspectives, Aoife, Jules the bride, Olivia her half sister and bridesmaid, Johnno the best man and Hannah the plus one, married to Charlie the MC. The characters are well depicted, some are despicable, there’s the odd diva (there always is as a wedding), a few botoxed beauties, some likeable characters and the ushers who are a bunch of arrogant, entitled privately educated men who are still school boys, act like pack animals and I want to punch their lights out!! Which is entirely the point! The stand out thing for me is the island and the weather which provides a magnificent, atmospheric backdrop and mirrors the storm brewing among the guests. The island has a ghostly feel and has legends which adds an extra dimension and there are some really creepy scenes to match the folklore, not least around the screeching cormorants which are seen as harbingers of death and evil which adds another layer of tension. Lucy Foley captures so well how strangers meet at a wedding, all bringing their stories and their baggage and as the night progresses with increased drunkenness, the frenzy of the band, tension rises and erupts volcanically in this wild location. The book has everything fans of this genre like - tension, revenge, secrets, lies, cowardice, grief, cruelty, the list goes on making this the guest list from Hades.

Overall, a really well executed, atmospheric, slow burner of a novel. At times I felt the pace a little too slow and I couldn’t get past my dislike of the ushers so hence 4 - 5 stars. There is a great deal to admire in the writing of this clever novel and I would recommend it to fans of the genre. There are things you definitely don’t see coming and the end is a genuine surprise which I really like.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the ARC.

Almost a paint by numbers partner to Foley’s debut, The Hunting Party, The Guest List is just as fun as its predecessor. Foley has a format, she’s sticking to it & I don’t blame her ‘cause she executes her ideas incredibly well, with brilliant characterisation.

Wonderful setting on an island off the Connemara coast full of history and foreboding. The new owners have refurbished the main old building into a desirable place to stay and it is the ideal venue for the wedding of the year - or is it?. A bunch of rich, privileged people with nasty pasts, so far kept secret are the close wedding guests. As the night before the wedding and the day itself unfold so do their secrets. Each chapter is told by one of the main guests or the happy couple but the time spins back and forth and out of synch which is distinctly confusing - just read the title line carefully and it's ok! The characters one and all are unlikeable and I really didn't care which of them was killed even if the murder didn't happen until very near the end. I would have sent the lot of them off in Mattie's boat in the storm. I'm sorry to say that it reads very like Ms Foley's previous The Hunting Party - thirty something 'bright' people with too much in the way of drink and drugs all degenerating through the course of, this time, a wedding. She writes very well about the sense of place, just not her characters. Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 out o f 5 stars

I read and really enjoyed Lucy's first novel, The Hunting Party, and was really excited to read more thrillers from her. There's something about her 'rich, awful people doing awful things and having awful things happen to them' plots that I absolutely love -- they're so deliciously dark and compulsively readable.

In many ways, The Guest List feels very much like The Hunting Party. You have a group of posh people coming together for an event, more secrets than you can shake a stick at, and a murder. And just like The Hunting Party, we don't know who is murdered or who the culprit is until the very end. I really liked this format so I was pleased to see it used again so effectively.
There's a wide cast of characters with multiple points of view. Between the wedding planner, the plus one, the best man, the bridesmaid, and the bride, the book felt incredibly well balanced in terms of the shifting POV, which is no easy feat. I really enjoyed the wide cast of characters -- Foley has a real talent for creating interesting and well fleshed out characters that have interesting motivations.
The only real downside of this book is the ending. While I found it satisfying, there was just so much coincidence! It all became a little unbelievable toward the end. To me, the book unraveled a little in the last 10-15%, which is just a shame because thrillers really have to stick the landing. However, this is obviously down to personal preference so I wouldn't let this deter you from picking up the book yourself.
The Guest List is another fun and compulsively readable thriller from Lucy Foley, perfect reading for a cold, winter evening.