Mystery/Thriller Reading Friends discussion

Discussion topic for 0% to 25% of The Guest List. If the first to post please briefly summarize to guide the discussion.
Spoilers welcome on this topic.

We meet key characters through named chapters for Aoife: the wedding planner, Hannah: the plus one, Jules: the bride, Johnno: the best man, and Olivia: the half sister. Interspersed we get "now" chapters from The Wedding Night: where things are not going as planned (understatement) in a tent, during a storm where chaos reins.
AOIFA the wedding planner lives on the island off the western coast of Ireland with her partner Freddy. The wedding of Julia Keegan and Will Slater is a coup. All must be perfect for the exacting bride and high profile tv star groom.
HANNAH wife to Charlie who is the long time friend of the bride to be. We meet them on a harrowing boat ride across the channel to the island,. Inis an Amplora or Cormorant Island off the Connemara coast. Twenty years ago a religious sect lived on the island where a massacre occurred.
JULES is our bride, eager for a perfect event, no matter the enormous cost and a disturbing anonymous note she hasn't mentioned, warning her to call off the wedding. Jules' mother is an eccentric self centered woman abandoned by Jules' absent father.
JOHNNO the best man is Will's friend from boarding school, and an unkempt mess. He and the four groomsmen also from school have a past.
OLIVIA is Jules' half sister, she's a troubled teen whose father was more present and the girls are not close. Something happened at university and she has dropped out.

After introductory chapters we get a sense of our cast of characters. It seems Jules are in love and have a strong physical attraction. Their wedding guests seem less motivated to wish them a happy marriage. (Possibly from disinterest)
Hannah, married to Charlie has two kids and seems down to earth. Charlie may still harbor feelings for Jules, probably some history here. (Charlie was there for Jules while she was growing up)
Will and his school friends seem to have some ominous secret.
Jules' parents despise each other. Jules and her half sister Olivia
are nothing alike and no love lost.
As we return to the wedding night, during a storm knocking out power and causing panic among the guests, a terrified server returns to the party tent with horrifying news: on the way back to the Folly - there is a body.

My audio places this segment ending at 27% with a Jules chapter.
I am well intrigued at this point and eager to pick back up with Johnno. Absolutely no clue who the body will be.
Between the subtle clues that the island has a creepy history (basically a peat bog named after a bird that represents greed, bad luck and evil.), the bad vibe coming from the groomsmen stemming from their boarding school Trevellan, and the simmering resentments in Jules' family, who knows what will happen.

Definitely leaves you with wanting to know more! Such an interesting array of characters...I know there is more to learn about each of them.

Dawn, yes - apparently there are many secrets to discover.

Dawn wrote: "Definitely leaves you with wanting to know more! Such an interesting array of characters...I know there is more to learn about each of them."

This book reminds me of the one we read a few months ago.. at least I think we did. By Ruth Ware maybe? It took place in a Swiss Chalet run by a man and woman who are best friends, not a couple. I'll look it up, but from the British accents to the changing POVs I keep flashing back. Oh okay I found it: One by One.

I have to say i don't like any of the wedding party and most of the guests. I'm wishing this were more of a traditional locked room mystery where the murder happens right away and the focus is on finding the murderer. The backstory of all these folks is sad and I'm not enjoying spending time with them. The bullying groomsmen are the worst! Lord of the Flies indeed!

I agree, Ann. Johnno definitely one of the more interesting characters.

Carol: I haven't read that one yet (One by One)
For me, reading books that remind of a different book can make the reading interesting in contrast, or annoying in comparison. :)

Carol/Bonadie wrote: "This book reminds me of the one we read a few months ago.. at least I think we did. By Ruth Ware maybe? It took place in a Swiss Chalet run by a man and woman who are best friends, not a couple. I'..."

Scott: He is indeed. We get meatier details and depths from Johnno that aren't present in the other characters

Scott wrote: "I agree, Ann. Johnno definitely one of the more interesting characters."

Can't wait.

Carol: that was how I had felt with Lucy Foley's The Hunting Party - in the beginning none of the characters grabbed me. I was pleasantly surprised this time to not hate the characters. Lol. Not totally sure I like any of them a great deal either.. Hope it gets better for you. It was a fast listen for me.

Carol/Bonadie wrote: "I have to say i don't like any of the wedding party and most of the guests. I'm wishing this were more of a traditional locked room mystery where the murder happens right away and the focus is on f..."

Ann, I'm about to comment on the next section. I'm about 3/4 through and it's definitely picked up.

Ann wrote: "Carol: that was how I had felt with Lucy Foley's The Hunting Party - in the beginning none of the characters grabbed me. I was pleasantly surprised this time to not hate the charact..."

Ann, I'm about to comment on the next section. I'm about 3/4 through and it's definitely picked up.

Ann wrote: "Carol: that was how I had felt with Lucy Foley's The Hunting Party - in the beginning none of the characters grabbed me. I was pleasantly surprised this time to not hate the charact..."

Carol/Bonadie wrote: "I have to say i don't like any of the wedding party and most of the guests. I'm wishing this were more of a traditional locked room mystery where the murder happens right away and the focus is on f..."

I usually feel the same, but reading this the fact most everyone was unlikable helped me enjoy the mystery and the creepy atmosphere.

I get that, Bonnie. For some reason I was so annoyed at the lack of honesty, the troubled characters (I know, what do I expect, well adjusted characters in a mystery/suspense novel???) that I couldn't get swept up by the mystery and suspense until well into the novel.

Bonnie wrote: "
Carol/Bonadie wrote: "I have to say i don't like any of the wedding party and most of the guests. I'm wishing this were more of a traditional locked room mystery where the murder happens right away and the focus is on f..."

I usually feel the same, but reading this the fact most everyone was unlikable helped me enjoy the mystery and the creepy atmosphere. ..."

Yeah, I sort of had the same reading experience.

I'm finding this very reminiscent of The Hunting Party, but even better. The writing is equally good, but I think the structure has more flow. It's definitely easy to dislike pretty much all of the men, especially the public school crowd, but I'm finding it easier to connect to the women, even those who are less appealing.

And I love all the potentially menacing backstories that are at this point lurking around the edges. Can't wait to see where the plot goes!

I've just finished chapter 19, which puts me at 25%, I guess.

Thanks for mentioning the Hunting Party, Barbara. Had not thought of that.

Barbara, good point regarding parallels to The Hunting Party. Here the women are a bit more sympathetic. (Or my expectations were lower this time) :)

I am almost 25% in now (maybe 23%). I'm really enjoying it so far! I really like all the different narrators listening to it on audio. And I'm enjoying figuring out what's going on in the "now" chapters with the majority of the chapters are the "before wedding night."

Yeah, Heather. I enjoyed it more as I went along too.

Wow, there is an interesting menagerie of characters in this story. The leading players are front and center on the island. I feel like Will is hiding something from his past, and before the excursion is over, Johnno might be the one to tell it. I also wonder if these nuptials are going to happen. Everyone is having their say about how they fit in, but none of them is talking about why they have come together. Johnno gives me pause, I've got my eye on him. I’m reading the large print book so my pages might be a bit different for percentage purposes.

Janice: good to see your comments and look forward to what you think of the book!
The break points in this one were a challenge to navigate without numbered chapters and multiples of the named chapters.
I just reread the summaries with flashbacks of enjoyment, these are some colorful character introductions and Johnno especially seemed to have more to tell.

Janice, as Ann says it will be interesting to hear your perspective along the way and see if your opinion changes as you move through the book.