Blog Tour - The Guest List

I am so happy today to be a part of Random Things Tours Blog Tour for the newest Lucy Foley book, The Guest List.  Trust me guys, if you like thrillers, this is one you're going to want to grab!

TITLE: The Guest List

AUTHOR: Lucy Foley

PUBLISHER: HarperCollins, UK

PUBLISHING DATE: February 20, 2020

FROM GOODREADS: A wedding celebration turns dark and deadly in this deliciously wicked and atmospheric thriller reminiscent of Agatha Christie from the author of The Hunting Party. 

The bride ‧ The plus one ‧ The best man ‧ The wedding planner ‧ The bridesmaid ‧ The body On an island off the coast of Ireland, guests gather to celebrate two people joining their lives together as one. The groom: handsome and charming, a rising television star. The bride: smart and ambitious, a magazine publisher. It’s a wedding for a magazine, or for a celebrity: the designer dress, the remote location, the luxe party favors, the boutique whiskey. The cell phone service may be spotty and the waves may be rough, but every detail has been expertly planned and will be expertly executed. 

But perfection is for plans, and people are all too human. As the champagne is popped and the festivities begin, resentments and petty jealousies begin to mingle with the reminiscences and well wishes. The groomsmen begin the drinking game from their school days. The bridesmaid not-so-accidentally ruins her dress. The bride’s oldest (male) friend gives an uncomfortably caring toast. 

And then someone turns up dead. Who didn’t wish the happy couple well? And perhaps more important, why? 

MY THOUGHTS: I really enjoyed last year's The Hunting Party and when I was offered the opportunity to take part in a blog tour for her latest novel, I jumped.  And man, was I glad I did.

The Guest List is an an isolated closed mystery tale which takes place on a creepy, remote island.  Julie and Will have had a whirlwind romance and are getting married.  They have invited some of their closest friends and family.  Aoife, a wedding planner, and her husband Freddie, have purchased and renovated Folly, located on an island off of Ireland.  Throw is some irresponsible school friends of the groom, the sister of the bride who clearly has some issues of her own going on, the bride's best friend and his wife who is sure that the Julie and her husband were once more than friends and you have a recipe for mayhem and disaster.  Because clearly, everyone on the island seems to have their own agenda. 

The Guest List is told from five different perspectives.  I love alternating POVs but I admit, I was initially worried about so many.  I shouldn't have been.  It is also told in dual timelines.  I don't know how Foley took this combination and made it work so well, but let me tell you the tale was utterly engrossing.  I devoured this book and read it in little less than a day. The writing flowed so well and I couldn't wait to find out what torrid secret or reckless behavior would happen next. 

I have to admit by the end of the book, I had some ideas about what had happened and while some of my ideas came to fruition, Foley also threw in some surprises I didn't expect.  I loved every minute I spend reading this book and can't wait to see what she comes up with next!

RATING: 5 PAWS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Lucy Foley studied English Literature at Durham and UCL universities and worked for several years as a fiction editor in the publishing industry, before leaving to write full-time. The Hunting Party, an instant Sunday Times and Irish Times no.1 bestseller, was Lucy’s debut crime novel, inspired by a particularly remote spot in Scotland that fired her imagination. Lucy is also the author of three historical novels, which have been translated into sixteen languages. Her journalism has appeared in ES Magazine, Sunday Times Style, Grazia and more.