Lucy Foley’s The Guest List is an easy-to-read mystery without having to worry about anything lurking behind closed doors. There’s plenty of tension but the short chapters and the focus on a handful of characters are balanced with the eery remote Irish island locale; all contribute to creating the scene for not only a whodunit, but to whom?
Mostly, the plot moves back forth between the day before and day of Jules and Will’s wedding; at times it is more specific: the morning of, the night of, now and the next day. The narrative is told from several perspectives: Jules; the bridesmaid; the best man; a plus one; and the wedding planner.
The first chapter, not ascribed to any particular character, sets the scene of a large, posh wedding reception with a powerful storm raging outside multiple tents. When the lights go out no one is overly concerned, but what evokes chills is a terrifying scream.
Foley doesn’t return to the source of the scream until more than 50 pages later. In the interim, the main characters are introduced – broadly at first before they become more real making it possible to develop attitudes and feelings toward each one. What surfaces in the character developments are jealousies, insecurities and, not surprisingly, several motives for murder.
Interspersed among the characters’ back stories are descriptions of the wedding, the island and storm, and, most significantly, what interrupted the festivities. This is perhaps the least engrossing element. Foley provides plenty of whys, which leaves the question of who‘s the victim since there so many possibilities.
The Guest List
Four Bookmarks
HarperCollins, 2020
313 Pages
The Blue Page Special 
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