Crime, Mysteries & Thrillers discussion

Hello fellow Crime, Mystery & Thriller readers,

Welcome to our discussion about The Guest List by Lucy Foley, your discussion leader is Madison.
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about spoilers

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Summary

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?

I enjoyed this one!!

Hi everyone! I’m Madison, your discussion leader for this book!

I am a paralegal from Western NY, and I also hold a degree in forensic science. Needless to say, thrillers/mysteries are a guilty pleasure of mine! I knew I wanted to read this book as soon as I saw the synopsis!

Can’t wait to hear everyone’s thoughts. Happy reading!

This is my first time participating in a group read. Looking forward to it!!

I read Lucy Foley's The Guest List in May for my neighborhood's book club, and enjoyed it enough to read her The Hunting Party.

This book was really good, caught my attention from the first page. I like how Lucy kept the chapters shorter so it felt like I was reading through it at a good pace. Great twist at the end, didn’t see any of it coming!

i read this about a month or so ago and sad to say this was not my favorite book :( it took me forever to read bc i was bored but glad I finished. to me, it was drawn out in a lot of parts & only caught my attention the last 50ish pages when everything finally came together -- which i'll give credit bc I didn't see any of it coming! I hope others enjoy it though, the twist was great!

Hi.. I’m on page 142, enjoying it so far. Scary when Hannah was walking back to the folly and gets stuck in the pest. Like quicksand, and two of the ushers help her get loose, and they were silently laughing at her; the creeps.

Finished The Guest List over the weekend. Enjoyed it very much. I like the wedding being on a remote island, made it creepy. With a storm going on with severe wind added to the scary atmosphere. I loved the ending, had no idea of who the killer was. It was a well-deserved death for sure and I was glad the killer got away with it!

I had read this last year and skimmed it again this past summer to see if I should reread it but I still remembered so much of it!

I loved the twist and the reasoning behind why everything happened I think it was a really good plot. I have The Hunting Party on my tbr now because of it!

I felt the same way...I was struggling but I wanted to see how it ended, and it ended with the right person dying! Sad to say that I did predict the end, but it could have been any of them...they all had motive.


Kimberly wrote: "i read this about a month or so ago and sad to say this was not my favorite book :( it took me forever to read bc i was bored but glad I finished. to me, it was drawn out in a lot of parts & only c..."

I liked it. I didn't guess the victim nor the culprit so I'd call it a successful murder mystery.

I really enjoyed this and have gone on to read all Lucy Foley's books as a result. I loved the palpable air of menace that permeated the storyline. I thought it a surprising and inventive novel.
Links to my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...

Honestly I didn’t think I would like this book as much as I did. If I had to read this on my own, I don’t think I would have gotten past the first few chapters. But I’m glad I kept reading, I ended up enjoying it!

This group read is what made me read (or listen) to all of Lucy Foley's books. I just finished The Guest List and I rather enjoyed it. I wasn't picking up at all who the real killer was, but I sure did speculate a ton! By the last few chapters, I was thinking maybe they all were in it together. Of the 3 Lucy Foley books that I've listened to so far, I would say that The Paris Apartment might be my favorite, with The Guest List a close second - maybe evening tied.

Dannie wrote: "This group read is what made me read (or listen) to all of Lucy Foley's books. I just finished The Guest List and I rather enjoyed it. I wasn't picking up at all who the real killer..."

I agree with you. I've read three of Foley's books and liked The Paris Apartment best.

I read this book in 2021 and gave it 4 stars.

A main character at a remote island wedding is murdered. Many characters have a motive to kill this person. You have to read the entire book to find out who is actually guilty and why.

I found this to be a bit uncomfortable, but very enjoyable. I kept a mental tally of possible killers in my head while reading this, but I was still wrong. So, well done!