Wow wow wow wow wow wow wow.
WOW.
This is a phenomenally good novel. The pacing is sublime. The plot is very clever and the whole novel is dripping with intrigue and tension with enough twists and turns to keep you glued to the pages. I devoured it in just a few evenings and was blown away by the whole concept.
An absolute thrilling read. Definitely cements Lucy Foley as a standout talent in this genre.

https://www.waterstones.com/reviews/the-guest-list/lucy-foley/2928377002237/133424#review-133424

Review on waterstones.com

Fab book, very enjoyable. I look forward to being able to sell it in the new year

Claire from Waterstones Leadenhall

Full in depth character profile, jumps from one person to another giving you a little bit of background on each one, each switch leaving you wanting more from that character.
The plot a murder is unclear until the end with many suspects for different reasons, The story is built around the characters and how they got where they are with their reason of why it could be them rather than the plot so the end for me felt like the story/plot had only just started.

Thanks to the publisher for an advanced reading of this book. A wedding is taking place on a remote island off Ireland, You start to think how romantic, but as the characters are introduced and their stories unravel the book takes on a different meaning. A brilliant read didn’t guess the ending. Would thoroughly recommend.

A lavish wedding is being held off the coast of Ireland. The happy couple are Julia and Will. They are joined by close school friends of Will’s, plus other friends and family

We know from the beginning that someone has been killed. But we don’t know who, why, or who did it

We learn from each of the characters the secrets they hold and motives for killing someone

When we finally learn who has been killed and who has killed them it is a satisfying moment.

Fast paced and well written. I loved this book. It is pretty similar to the author’s first book, “The Hunting Party” but I feel just as satisfying.

I loved it

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins*

Welcome to the lavish wedding of high-profile couple, Jules and Will. From satin gowns and vintage champagne to their successful businesses and dazzling good looks, this pair really do seem like they have it all. Or do they?

A murder mystery set off the coast of the Connemara coast, brings together a group of Jules and Wills closest friends and family, all with dark pasts they can’t forget. The book is spread over a 24 hour period flicking from The Wedding Night itself to earlier in the day and also the day before.

I personally didn’t love this book. I have to admit I hadn’t read The Hunting Party because I’d heard mixed reviews but decided to go for it with The Guest List. Every guest had such an obvious motive that has been cliched before from other whodunnits that I found myself saying ‘come on!’ In my head. I appreciate there were attempts at suspense but I almost had to laugh. For example when a person appeared at the window with a gargoyle mask only to find out it was one of the guests arriving and playing a trick on the others. I found the authors voice just lacked something for me.

Having said that it did engage me until the end and I actually didn’t know who was murdered or the murderer was right until it was revealed. For this reason I give the book 3 stars.

This is very similar to Lucy Foley's first book The Hunting Party. It is an atmospheric and interesting thriller, with several fantastic twists towards the end. Definitely worth reading if you're a thriller fan!

Jules and Will are getting married on a remote Irish island. Among their guests are:
Olivia: Jules’ half sister
Charlie: one of Jules’ closest friends and
Hannah: Charlie’s wife
Johnno: The best man
A gang of Will’s (fairly obnoxious) friends and assorted family members. The festivities are all presided over and catered by the venue’s owners Aoife and Freddie.


Someone at this wedding isn’t going to make it out alive, and responsibility must lie with an attendee - but who dies and who did it? Well the fun of this book is in the guessing and why do I never get it right?!


This book is every bit as addictive as The Hunting Party, with an equally creepy setting. The mostly pretty unlikeable characters are each harbouring their own secrets, details of which are revealed tantalisingly slowly through chapters told from each of their viewpoints. Foley expertly manages to capture the often complex dynamics of old and blended friendship groups. Her characters are, on the whole, believable and though the plot does rely on a number of coincidences, it doesn’t feel outrageously far-fetched.


What the author has completely nailed here once again is creating a fabulous premise with absolutely perfectly paced narrative. The tension and excitement ramps up in the latter half through shorter and sharper chapters until you just have to race through the last 75 pages. There’s no choice really; the book just doesn’t allow itself to be put down until all has been revealed.

A mistake I made was having read The Hunting Party quite recently. Since there are quite a few similarities in plot, structure and, necessarily, style I found myself a little disappointed and worried that The Guest List was following a (granted, winning) formula. But this was forgiven and forgotten as the book progressed and I was 100% hooked. I loved it!

An exclusive wedding is taking place on a island off the coast of Ireland, including a group of old school friends, a survivalist TV presenter and the bride, who edits and runs a successful online magazine. But there are secrets, and lies, and the wedding ends with the discovery of a body - but whose?

It's a very similar style to Lucy Foley's first novel The Hunting Party, and just as enjoyable. There were several people who could have been the body, and just as many people who could have been the killer - and I really didn't expect it to be the one it was! Some of the characters were a lot more sympathetic than others, and none of the POV characters leave the island the same as when they arrived, with some relationships broken and others mended (and that mending gives one of the more unsympathetic characters a redeeming feature and some hope for the future).

I'll be reading her next novel too!

A gréât thriller that I read quickly dying to know what had happened. Lots of different threads pulled together

A twisted and effective psychological thriller with a glittering razor-sharp edge.

The actual guest list delivers a whole case of ‘Marmite’ characters who will definitely give you stark choice of either loving or hating them. Behind their perfected pretences lie a sourness that can only be disguised with artificial sweeteners, like fake smiles and tans, for so long.

Through a series of carefully crafted hints, rather than obvious tells, it appears almost everyone has something to hide – and some are more successful than others, in more ways than one. Everyone else is either harbouring a festering resentment or an insane level of contagious camaraderie carried forward from their private and very privileged education.

All of this, coupled with the extreme isolated setting, provides the perfect host for its creeping tension to grow tauter with each passing chapter – being short and having alternate narrators makes them highly addictive!

Put it this way, if you liked ‘The Hunting Party’ you will LOVE this.

ACTUAL RATING: 4.5 / 5

This is my second book by Lucy Foley and once again I found it very enjoyable and would highly recommend it. It was atmospheric and enthralling and the build up to the climax brilliantly written. The character development surprised me and I loved the ending. Recommended.

Love Lucy Foley - and am very much enjoying her move into thrillers. This is just the kind of book I love - multiple characters, different perspectives, a slowly unravelling plot, lots of secrets.

I did think it was a little convenient how everyone was so connected in this one though, I was gripped, but I think I enjoyed The Hunting Party more.

The Guest House is a new thriller from the author of "The Hunting Party" and I can see similarities between these two novels - a remote location, where in a close group of people jealousies and secrets come to life. This time, we meet Will, Jules and their wedding party on the remote island. The narrative splits between a day when we found out something horrible has happened and a day leading up to it, again, a similar setup. But I really enjoyed reading this thriller, more then the previous one - it was chilling, atmospheric, fast-paced. It had some great characters and some likable ones too. Perhaps there was too much coincidence in some places, but I was so gripped while reading the book that they didn't matter to me. All together, a great read!

I know it is said too often with books but I truly could not put this book down. I knew there were links between characters but the clever plot device of different viewpoints teases the reader to guess what they might be. The tension built by starting with a victim but then going back in time forcing the reader to second guess what was happening next. Who was the vitim? who was the killer? (if there was one) and what were the connections between the characters. The haunting Irish location during a storm with its spooky history set the scene reminding me of an Agatha Christie novel. This book was so good I instantly purchased Foley's first book. Read this book you won't be disappointed.

This does have a very similar structure to The Hunting Party but hey, it's a great structure, and I think university friends meeting up for a weekend away has a different enough vibe from strangers coming together for a wedding (and in fact, quite a crucial plot point hinges on the fact that a wedding means people from all parts of your life suddenly being in the same place). The creepy atmosphere was expertly done. I did partly guess the twist, a lot of the narrative hangs on some incredible coincidences and it wraps up extremely abruptly, but it's such an enjoyable ride it doesn't really matter.

Each chapter is perfectly paced as the author expertly teases the reader through the layered lives of the wedding party. Lives that are dripping with secrets, grudges and resentments which are about to surface with deadly consequences. The descriptions of the isolated location help create the perfect backdrop for the disintegration of the wedding.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found it difficult to drag myself away from it. I haven't read Foley's début yet but I definitely will now. She's truly hooked a new fan!

When you read the synopsis you think, ah, the same story as "The Hunting Party" (which I enjoyed a lot incidentally) - a group of "friends", a remote location, bad weather ... but it's not!

This is an incredibly well plotted story of secrets and lies, past and present misdemeanours and mistakes all of which are slowly revealed until the shocking denouement. Ms Foley does give us some "clues" along the way as to who did what, when and to whom but she still manages to misdirect the reader (which is how it should be!)

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and expect it to be a best-seller in 2020.

Thank you to the HarperCollins for the advance review copy.

Wow this was a whole load of twisted personalities right here, all gathered together for an impressively sparkling wedding…but like all good parties it’s going to be murder….

I loved the island setting of this one, beautifully described to give a sense of isolation and danger – the danger being all too real as Jules looks to have the perfect day but everyone else seems set to misbehave. Old secrets, old grudges, this is indeed a wedding to die for. Or to die at….

Lucy Foley draws her characters with many layers, digging slowly underneath the surface glitter to show you the true personality underneath. It is completely addictive as a storm rages in more ways than one and I can’t think of another novel I’ve read recently where the ending was so utterly utterly satisfying. I left The Guest List behind with a wry smile and a nod to the immaculate plotting and clever nuances of human nature.

Loved it. I thought The Hunting Party was brilliant but The Guest List takes it up a notch.

Very much recommended.

This is my second book by Lucy Foley and it does not disappoint. Julia Keegan is marrying Will Slater on a remote Irish island. Everything has been planned, Olivia the Bridesmaid, who is also Julia's sister, Johnno the Best Man, Hannah, the Plus One and also the wife of Charlie who is Julia's best friend and Aoife the Wedding Planner all tell the story of the wedding from their point of view when a guest is found murdered and has many enemies. Lucy Foley tells an atmospheric and tense story and I did not guess who dunnit!