"As a wedding planner you can't afford to miss anything. You have to be alert to every detail, all the smaller eddies beneath the surface. If I didn't pay attention, one of those currents could grow into a huge riptide, destroying all my careful planning. And here's another thing I've learned - sometimes the smallest currents are the strongest."

Jules is the beautiful, showy and determined founder of The Download a digital magazine. She is marrying handsome and charming Will, reality TV star of 'Survive The Night'. Jules hires wedding planner Aoife and husband, chef Freddie, who have bought a small island, Inis an Amplora, or Cormorant Island. Several miles off the Connemara coastline it is remote, beautiful but wild.

Wedding guests include Jules' family - her vulnerable stepsister Olivia, self-centred mother and four-times remarried, uninvolved father, and his latest, young wife; and Jules' best friend, Charlie and his wife Hannah, the plus one. For Will his guests are mainly those he went to a private boys' school with, including so-called best mate Johnno who never felt he fitted in, and other privileged and arrogant men.

It is a powder keg, with a number of unhappy characters with axes to grind. Will and Jules look so perfect but are they? There a number of narratives from different characters, who are identified by name and role, split before and after the murder that takes place. It isn't revealed who has been killed until near the end, but as the plot develops it is clear a number of the characters have reason to hate and seek revenge. I loved the characters, who despite their issues felt full-rounded; I loved the spooky and isolated location; I loved the pace and; I loved the short chapters with sharp turns that kept me hooked. Just like The Hunting Party, this is a thoroughly enjoyable, well-written thriller, worth reading when it's published next month. Atmospheric, dark and gripping.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for this arc. I loved The Hunting Party, so was eagerly excited for this and what a cracker this was. This follows a whole host of characters who are on an island, near Ireland, for the wedding of Jules and Ben, a minor celebrity as a result of being the star of a reality show. You’ve got Jules’s troubled younger sister, Olivia, and the wife of her best friend, Hannah, as well as Ben’s childhood best mate, Johnno, and Aoife, the wedding planner.
Past and presents secrets are exposed, personalities clash and tensions boil in this pacy gripping read. I couldn’t put this down. My only gripe is I felt the ending was too abrupt and wanted to see the aftermath of the rest of the characters. It’s 4.5/5

This is so good! Don't worry I won't give anything away. I really want to talk about it but my lips are sealed.

If you liked The Hunting Party you'll enjoy this too. A bunch of people, somewhere remote, a murder. Who gets murdered? By who?

It's the same structure as The Hunting Party, moving between the current moment and the past and between characters. It's kind of frustrating, you almost get and answer and then it switches back to the other person. But, that also meant lots of tiny cliff hangers. I couldn't put it down.

Anyone who enjoyed Lucy Foley's bestseller The Hunting Party will be pleased with this new book. On paper, it seems to offer a similar formula: a remote setting, a group of beautiful People With A Past who are not telling the whole truth, and a shocking event, told bit-by-bit from multiple perspectives as the reader and the characters begin to piece together what has happened. But what worked so well in The Hunting Party works really well here too, and even if there are some similarities the overall feel is very different. The setting is atmospheric and effective, the characters are multi-layered and believable, and there's an urgency and pace that keeps you turning pages.

Lucy Foley follows up her very successful and popular whodunnit, The Hunting Party, with a new take on the closed-circle of suspects genre. Like her previous work, The Guest List is great fun.

The setting this time is a remote Irish island, where online magazine editor Jules is getting married to TV outward-bound presenter Will in what she hopes will be the wedding of the season.

Not messing with a winning formula, again Foley jumps around, relating the narrative from a variety of participants at the wedding, from the bride herself, to the wedding planner, the best man, a friend of a friend (“the plus one”) and her step-sister amongst others. And as with the previous book, we jump between two timelines – the leadup and events of the big day, and the period when “something” has happened. As the story progresses, the two timelines collide.

As with The Hunting Party, the attendees at this wedding a mixture of sympathetic and particularly unsympathetic characters. Many of the men, including the groom attended the minor public school “Trevs” where they took part in sometimes unpleasant proceedings. All of this is bubbling under as the guests arrive for the wedding.

Meanwhile Jules is trying to put out of her head, a note she has received warning her than her husband-to-be is not the man she thinks he is. She’s a driven woman, successful with her online magazine, and after a relatively short engagement, is going to be marrying her Bear Grylls-wannabe husband.

This is a pacey read – with chapters jumping between perspectives, and the story never really slowing down for too long. The format might be classics, but the concerns and issues it confronts are cleverly put together and mostly succeed.

It’s fun, and keeps you guessing most of the time, delivering a satisfying conclusion. A very entertaining book.

I previously read Lucy Foley's debut [book:The Hunting Party|37642030] and really enjoyed it so was excited to read this one. I was not disappointed; The Guest List cements Foley as a current leader in the closed-room mystery genre. I cannot wait for more of her work.

This book centres around a wedding party who are trapped on an island which doubled as the venue. The setting adds so much darkness and depth to the plot as well as mirroring and heightening some of the characters' moods with the storm, barren landscapes, a graveyard, just everything you want in a book like this.

The characters are all linked to the main couple, Julia and Will, who have only known each other for a short period of time but are both successful in their own lives. The bridesmaid is her little sister and the best man is his oldest friend, other extensions of these relationships and then there is the wedding planners. All have a history and secrets of their own which are revealed along the way like breadcrumbs to keep you hooked until the larger shocks.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC.

The Guest List us an astoundingly good second novel by Lucy Foley. I thoroughly enjoyed The Hunting Party and enjoyed this just as much. The style and narrative approach used is similar in that we are a smallish band of characters whose points of views are given throughout the book and a moving backwards and forwards from the murder to the events immediately preceding it. We have complex interrelationships and emotions well crafted and a mystery that keeps one guessing until the very end. This is any book that one finds difficult to put down and one that moves at a satisfyingly rapid pace. Excellent work and an author whose new books I will eagerly anticipate. I’d rank her alongside Jane Harper amongst new authors for whose new releases I’ll snap up immediately. Foley’s books would also make fantastic films or mini series as their settings are intriguing and visually exciting and their plots keep the audience in the edge of their seats - or literally cliff edge in the present case.

Another superb contemporary, sexy, atmospheric thriller from this author. An Insta perfect couple are holding their wedding on a remote Irish island. She is editor of a chichi online magazine and he is a Bear Grylls type TV presenter. Like The Hunting Party the plot begins with one of the guests already dead, the narrative then jumps back 48 hours to the first of the visitors arriving on the island. This is a tightly woven plot with fabulously compelling characters (some so awful in the 'you love to hate them' vibe). The twists and reveals are a genuine surprise and cleverly done. Who was killed and by whom? I loved the depiction of the island too. This author is at the top of her game and i cannot wait for her next offering.

AMAZING! This book was utterly intriguing and hard to put down because of it. I loved the fact we were kept guessing from start to finish and the littering of red herrings kept me guessing, sometimes in the right ball park and others, way off! I liked The Hunting Party but I loved this!

Another brilliant novel from Lucy Foley! I loved The Hunting Party but The Guest List is even better. It’s tense, atmospheric and impossible to put down. Wedding guests arrive on a remote Irish island, all bringing their own hopes, secrets and stresses. The bride, Jules, is determined to have the perfect wedding. She won’t let anyone stand in her way, especially her fiancés rowdy friends with their tales of boarding school days. She has no time to wonder why her younger sister is looking so unhappy. I found I was hooked very quickly and the pace didn’t let up until the end. I saved this book for a special weekend away and it was an ideal read. Enjoy!

A good murder mystery with lots of strong characters. I loved the past and present timeline of this book and can see the authors writing style flows through this book as it did the first. Set on a creepy remote Irish island., Jules and Will are getting married and when a murder happens the reader is drawn in to a tale of secrets held by the guests.

I enjoyed Lucy’s Foley’s previous novel The hunting party so, I was excited to get a copy of The Guest List.
A wedding with a difference, is held on a remote island of the coast of Ireland to a celebrity couple Jules Keegan and Will Slater. This is the first wedding held on the island. Not the usual place for a wedding you might think. As the inhabitants of the island left years ago and what is left, is the ruins of the abandoned cottages and graveyard. A spooky place at night. Folks say the place is haunted.
The guests arrive at a start of a storm brewing and we learn about each of them with every chapter as a different point of view. The story tells of how they met the happy couple, but also the grudges have with each other including his best man Jonno and his boarding school mates tell of what Will did years ago to get to be the star he is today. Then a body is found…

The story then goes back and forth in time and the build up towards the wedding until we find out who killed who. (I won’t give the game away)
I really, really want to love this book, but for me personally I found it quite hard going, I did like the premise of the story but, found it a bit annoying when you get to a good bit and then the story went back in time so you had to read a couple of chapters to find out what happened next. I didn’t like any of the characters either. Three stars from me.

Amazing book!!! Only other time I have been so far off on the culprit was The Bone Collector. Absolute page turner and plot twists all the way through. Think I felt for Hannah the most thought the story it felt all most of the characters were relatable. Not the old school boys so much! It is also refreshing for the murder victim to have so many reasons to actually be murdered. Think with there being so many reasons from so many different people kept the book engrossing all the way through. I love the way these books are written and it totally gets you involved with each of them. Would absolutely recommend.

What a cracking read! Here’s a thriller that definitely stands up to the hype! A tense, and perfectly paced murder mystery I couldn’t put down.

I hadn’t read anything by Lucy Foley before, but the outstanding reviews of her previous book, The Hunting Party, encouraged me to dig further. I’m so glad I did. The Guest List is definitely going to be one of my favorite books so far this year.

Will Slater is marrying Jules Keegan. He is a television celebrity, she is the publisher of an online magazine. It is publicized as the wedding of the year, set in the ruined chapel on Innis Amploir, an island off the Irish coast. Publicity is sure to be mind-blowing, paparazzi are bound to be on site, but is the venue across choppy seas worth the trek? Is the island a little too cut-off from the mainland? And is the setting potentially a little claustrophobic? I would say yes, to both. And that’s what makes this locked-room mystery so exceptional.

Each chapter POV makes up the wedding party. Bride’s sister Olivia is bridesmaid, Charlie is the MC, Johnno Briggs the best man and friend of the bride, and Hannah, Charlie’s wife. On the island also is wedding planner, Aoife and her husband, Freddy. There are ushers and plenty of other character to chew on, but it’s the wedding party I found so fascinating. They are far from settled in such idyllic surroundings and you can’t help feeling a sinister vibe with each page.

The relationship between the party has a history and it’s this history that threatens the status quo. There are crushes where you wouldn’t expect, which makes the story all the more deliciously entertaining, and a narcissist point of view that reveals a whole other layer to Foley’s well-fleshed out characters. Firstly, Hannah and Charlie are not as wealthy or as well-connected as the bride and groom, and must feel very much out of their social bracket. Since the groom’s father was headmaster of Trevellyans, the guests are mostly made up of former students, coming from the so-called higher echelons of society. The ushers seemed to have a herd mentality, and no sense of right and wrong, which hastens the menace and ups the heart-rate. You anticipate something bad is going to happen early on and the ending is something I didn’t see coming. There are clues sprinkled all the way through, but not ones I could easily recognize. Everyone is a suspect and that makes for a niftily executed read!

I want to thank the author, publisher and Netgalley for giving Bookpreneur the privilege of reading an advance review copy.

Super massive 5 stars for this highly anticipated second book from Lucy Foley.

After loving The Hunting Party I was excited to be approved to read The Guest List.

Set out in the same style as The Hunting Party and told from each characters perspective, see sawing from past to present, the chapters are quick and easy to read which keep the pages turning.

Jules and Will are the perfect celebrity couple in every way, booking their high society wedding on a remote island. The guest list is sent out and we meet each character as they arrive, family, old and new friends and colleagues. All of them hiding their own secrets, as well as the unassuming couple that run the folly. The anticipation builds up slowly until the wedding day when a body is found. Who is it and what secrets are they hiding that could make someone murder them?

I was kept guessing until the end due to the twists, turns and red herrings. Fabulous book and highly recommended.

A wedding is taking place on a remote island.
The groom is a famous television personality and his bride a successful magazine editor.
The ushers all went to school with the groom but was it as happy as they remember and who still holds a grudge?
Who else is hiding a secret?
One person will not leave the island!

What can I add to all the great reviews that this book already has received?
I enjoined every second of it. From the first page I just couldn’t stop reading, better said listening.
I usually don’t like at all more than two characters pov because I always felt lost and confused while trying to keep up with all the characters own stories and interconnected life but this book it’s so well done than I didn’t even care about the six characters pov. The author has created a story that has so many layers and twists and turns that will keep you on the edge at all times. Going between past mistakes and secrets well kept to the present day were two of the characters are tying the knots on a remote place in Ireland nothing could go wrong when there are only family and friends presents no?
Secrets, lies, revenge and fake friendship are mixed up in this beautiful and twisted crime story from a new to me but the favourite author now.

Set on a remote island off the west coast of Ireland, The Guest List is an atmospheric and chilling thriller for a warm, cosy night in. It is narrated by several members of an exclusive wedding party on the island: the bride, the bridesmaid, the best man, a plus one and the wedding planner. A sense of unease is present even from the start, when guests find the crossing rough, with references to a dark past on the island and hints to something bad happening on the stag weekend, and we are quickly made aware of old, dark folk tales about bodies buried on the island. All we know at the beginning is that the lights go out at the wedding and a scream is heard, before the book goes back to start properly the day before.

I loved how Foley set up her mystery on this remote island, where you're never sure if it is the isolation or something else that is making everyone seem on edge. The best parts of the book are how she sets the scene, and how privilege works in the book to separate characters from one another and make people go along with things they are uncomfortable with. Most obviously are the group of ex public school boys whose many stories from the old days sound like something out of Lord of the Flies, but also interesting is the way in which the English bride treats the Irish island (and the people who run it) like her own - she reflect more than once that she is the gracious host, not the owners of the house, because she has paid for the privilege. The idea of the coloniser and the colonised was always in the forefront of my mind as the guests tried to navigate the perilous island that doesn't seem to want them there. While I enjoyed the book, I felt that the set up dragged on, and there needed to be more real action earlier. However, the end is very satisfying and fast paced, I would have just liked that to start earlier.

This is an intriguing and very cleverly conceived story. Guests travel to a remote island for the wedding of a wealthy,entitled couple. Details about the important players are made available gradually to the reader. The boarding school background of the groom means guests from then who are also pompous and rowdy. Then,gradually,the issues in the past of them,the groom,bride,best man and a few others are divulged to intrigue the reader. The story keeps you on edge about what kind of catastrophe is going to wreck the wedding. Then it becomes clear that many of the principal players have something to hide and cause for revenge. The various storylines begin to merge to a dramatic conclusion. This is a very well written and absorbing tale.

After reading The Hunting Party and being totally hooked, I was very excited to get my hands on The Guest List and escape for a few hours!!!

Julie a magazine publisher is marrying television star & celebrity Will Slater, the star of the show Survival. The location of their wedding is on an Island off the coast of Ireland. The guests will come over on a boat and a select few will be staying at the refurbished Folly, which is run by couple Aoife and Freddie, the wedding planner and the caterer.

This is the first wedding for Aofie and Freddie, so they want everything to be perfect and hopefully they will get a good review from Julia in her magazine. But one thing they couldn’t control is the weather, oh and the guests!!

At the beginning of the book we know something has gone wrong, the storm has caused the lights to go out, a terrified waitress has seen a body outside and guests are soon rushing out into the dark stormy night.

The story is told from several key characters point of view, leading up to the wedding day and the wedding night. We get to know the characters and their pasts and how they are connected to the bride and groom.

I loved this book and how each person has a different perspective of the wedding night. The wedding guests each have their own secrets, fears and lies.

The storm is raging outside but inside there is a different type of storm brewing, that will have its own fatal outcome and affect all of them.

I loved this book and found myself engrossed from the first page. The spooky location with the deadly bogs and treacherous cliffs makes this a thrilling read where you cannot trust anyone. Everyone is a suspect!!

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.