Thank you! We included this on Caboodle (20 books to look out for in 2020), and will read and review on Pretty Books.

Wowzers. I was hooked from the start. A wedding on a remote Irish island only accessible by boat. Random public schoolboy hazing rituals brought up by a group of the guests. Isolation, peat bogs and a lot of guests with a lot of secrets a to a gripping tale. Told from various viewpoints the story is delightfully revealed until the end.

The book struggles a little to not become too rambling with its plot, and there are a few too many coincidental meetings among a small group of people, but this was an enjoyable read for a cold day by the fire. The setting is unusual and is suitably claustrophobic for a murder mystery and the characters interesting if a little one-dimensional. I will definitely look for other books by this author.

A quick, tense, atmospheric thriller with plenty of twists and turns, set against the backdrop of a luxe wedding on a picturesque Irish island. While the formula is well worn – show the body in the prologue then spend the rest of the book flitting between povs to work out whodunit, this is a well written psychological thriller that will keep you turning the pages. Very much enjoyed this.

As you would expect from Lucy Foley, a clever, well-structured novel that will keep you guessing to the end. I certainly won't be accepting any invitations to weddings on remote Irish islands in future!

I loved The Hunting Party but for me The Guest List was even better. It was packed full of tension and intrigue and really did leave me guessing right up until the very end.

Lucy Foley is like a modern day Agatha Christie!

She includes:
1. An unexplained death.
2. A cast of characters - and any one of them might be the perpetrator.
3. A remote location.
4. Action and dialogue in equal measure.

With Lucy Foley's murder mysteries the best thing is that you don't even know who is dead until the latter part of the book, so you are not only guessing who did it but who was the victim. It's like cluedo!

Lucy Foley focuses on developing her characters, and their back story, and as a result they feel authentic and you really get involved in their lives.

Like The Hunting Party, I was left guessing (and second guessing myself!) right up until the end. The plot is detailed and well thought out.

This book is only just being published but already I cannot wait for the next!!

The boat trip out to Inis Amploir, off the Irish coast, might have been enough to put some guests off, but it was the wedding of the year. Will Slater (television personality, if not yet a celebrity) was to marry Jules Keegan, online magazine publisher, in the ruined chapel on the island. The bride's sister, Olivia, would be her only bridesmaid and the wedding planner and chef are Aoife and her husband, Freddy. They gave a huge discount to get the couple to the island, but surely it would be worth it for the publicity?

The Master of Ceremonies is Charlie, best friend of the bride. Charlie's wife, Hannah, is just a mite suspicious about the closeness of Jules and Charlie, but she's honest enough to admit (if only to herself) that she's just a little bit smitten with Will. Once she's over her seasickness she's determined to enjoy herself even if she does realise that she and Charlie (he's a geography teacher) are perhaps not in the same financial bracket as the rest of the guests. Most of the guests seem to be from Will's schooldays: he was at Trevellyans, a minor public school which put me in mind of Gordonstoun. Boys would be made into men, no matter what the cost.

Will's father, who's at the wedding, was the headmaster of Trevellyans and he's suspicious of Will's best man, Johnno Briggs, whom he suspects of being a bad influence on his son. Johnno never really recovered from what happened whilst he was at Trevellyans and he's one of the few guests who hasn't made much of his life. He's also conscious that he virtually had to force himself on Will as his best man. It didn't help him to remember to bring his suit though.

I first encountered Lucy Foley when I read The Hunting Party: was that really a year ago? It still seems so fresh in my mind, but if The Guest List was to be anything like The Hunting Party then I was in for a treat. At first, I thought I might be in for much the same sort of treat: the settings might be dramatically different, but it's still 'a locked room' mystery, with a group of mismatched people cut off in a remote location, but I needn't have worried. Foley takes her wayward party guests off in a different direction and delivers a cracking story.

The characters are exceptional. They come off the page and worry you. There's a feeling of hidden menace in the group of Will's old school friends who are to be his ushers, which leaves you nervous. They might all have good jobs (Femi's a surgeon) but there's a pack mentality and a lack of social conscience which frightens. It certainly frightened poor Charlie when he went on the stag do: he's still not prepared to talk about what went on.

I'd planned on reading the book over four days: in the event, it only just crept into the second day, by dint of being finished at five in the morning. I had to find out what happened! I really didn't see the ending coming, but all the clues were there: I just didn't spot them. It was a really good read and Lucy Foley is now firmly on my 'must read everything by' list. I'd like to thank the publishers for letting Bookbag have a review copy.

Another success from Lucy Foley after the brilliant Hunting Party - a dark and twisty thriller full of well drawn out characters. A tense page turner full of beautiful prose

I loved Lucy Foley's last book The Hunting Party and was excited to pick up The Guest List (thanks to NetGalley!). It did not disappoint! Secrets, sex, money, family drama, betrayal and murder. Just like its predecessor, this is a skilful and dark whodunnit told from multiple viewpoints. A cast of (mostly) unlikeable characters has come together on an isolated island off the coast of Ireland to celebrate the lavish wedding of a TV celebrity and the owner of a women's magazine. Several of them have dark secrets that tie them together. This book is all about the build-up. A storm is brewing outside and another one inside the marquee which holds the bride and groom's families, their school and university friends and colleagues. By the end of the night, someone is dead. Who has a motive and who wielded the weapon? I highly recommend this intense murder mystery which I wanted to gobble up in one sitting.

This is an easy to read murder mystery where a group of (mainly unlikeable) family and friends gather on a remote island for a wedding.
They’re a mixed bunch and the story is told from the perspective of each guest, bride, groom and wedding planner. Each given a chapter and I enjoyed the flow of the different characters.
The murder happens early on in the book and the resulting chapters unfurl the various characters and their personal stories and issues.

It kept me reading and for an easy to read, well concluded murder mystery, it does the trick.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to preview.

Another fantastic book from Lucy Foley. The action takes place over a few days on a small island just off the west coast of Ireland - very Agatha Christie. Initially this is not just a case of who done it, but also who was the victim and why. It becomes clear during the narrative from some half dozen of the characters that there is one particular person who has hurt a number of them, thus we can deduce the identity of the victim. However, the way in which the story unfolds is gripping and the perpetrator of the murder does come as a surprise. The rights and wrongs of private education are questioned, especially the gang mentality which is just as marked as in other parts of society. A real page turner.

Guests gather on an island off the coast of Ireland for a lavish wedding.

Told over 48 hours, we get to know many of the guests and discover how some of them have "issues" with each other.
We know from the off that there is going to be a murder but the story was a bit too slow moving for my tastes. I persevered, and finished the book but I don't think I could honestly say that I found it enjoyable

Another great twisty thriller from Lucy Foley full of unlikeable characters and bad things. Loved it!

Having enjoyed Lucy Foley's previous book 'The Hunting Party', I was looking forward to this new one. It certainly lived up to expectations! The formula is similar: this time people are gathering for the wedding of Julia and Will on a remote Irish island. We find out early on that something terrible happens on the night of the wedding, and the story is told from several different characters' point of view. Everyone has their secrets! This is a real page turner, which I thoroughly recommend. Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

Fantastically woven thriller that keeps you guessing until the very end. Engaging characters, secrets in abundance. A brilliant story that had me racing through the pages as I devoured it with relish.

To say that Jules Keegan and Will Slater's wedding didn't go as planned is a bit of an under-statement. The happy couple are both successful people,, Jules runs a popular online magazine while Will is the star of a TV show. and their wedding take place on an island off the coast of Ireland. Old friends and close family are invited, what could possibly go wrong?

The Guest List by Lucy Foley is great fun that stretches credulity more than a little with coincidence after coincidence playing a part in the tale but it's entertaining and the tale could go any one of several ways right up until the end. The story is told from the point of view of several characters and flits backwards and forwards in time, I had no problem with this but I know from reading reviews of similar books it does annoy or confuse others. Most of the characters in the book are flawed in some way,in some cases deeply flawed, but they're interesting and well drawn.. As secrets are uncovered and people at the wedding loosen up under the influence of drink and other recreational substances what should be the happiest day of the Golden Couple's lives rapidly unravels as events begin to spiral out of control leading ultimately to murder.
An enjoyable,if not always believable, book, an easy read and very entertaining.

Thanks to Lucy Foley, Harper Collins and Netgalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

I really enjoyed The Hunting Party and sold vast quantities of the paperback over Christmas. The Guest List is even better.

I enjoyed this book, although I did find it predictable in places. A whodunnit, with good characterisation and a good setting. I wasn't overkeen on the pacing and found the explanation of who each character was in each chapter heading a little off-putting. Still a good read. Recommended.

Not usually a fan of books that go backwards and forwards from past to present continually. I didn't need to worry this time as the story was fluid the whole way through. A true whodunnit which keeps you guessing until the end.