This summer I visited a sleepy beach town for my sister’s wedding. A few days before, I had nowhere to be so I jumped onto Google in hopes of finding a wedding-themed book to pass the time. To my surprise, the book that caught my eye wasn’t a sappy romance, but a murder mystery called The Guest List by Lucy Foley. (Kindle | Kobo | Paperback)
Now that I've finished it, not only can I answer some of the most frequently asked questions about the book, but I can also recommend you books like The Guest List to read next. If that's what you're looking for, then keep reading. (Warning: This article contains spoilers)
How Long Does It Take to Read The Guest List?
The great thing about The Guest List is that the chapters are short and sweet, so it makes reading it fly by. In total though, How Long to Read, calculates that it would take the average reader approximately 5.5 hours to complete The Guest List.
Is The Guest List Scary?
The Guest List isn’t as scary as it is suspenseful. There is only one scene of violence and even then it is short and hardly goes into graphic details. So, my take as someone who can’t watch scary or intense movies or TV shows after dark without sleeping with a light on, is that The Guest List isn’t a scary book.
Is The Guest List a Sequel to The Hunting Party?
No - The Guest List is not a sequel to The Hunting Party or The Paris Apartment. In fact, all of these books are standalones.
Who Are the Main Characters in The Guest List?
The Guest List isn’t narrated by a single main character. Instead, it is narrated by six main characters. Those characters include:
Jules (Bride)
Will (Groom)
Aoife (Wedding Planner)
Olivia (Maid of Honour)
Johnno (Best Man)
Hannah (Wife of the MC and the bride’s best friend)
Who Did Aoife Walk In On In The Guest List?
We never know for sure who Aoife walked in on in The Guest List. For a moment, I wondered if it might be Hannah, who had just found out her husband Charlie had cheated on her with Jules (the bride), and Luis (a fellow wedding guest), but nothing past the dancing scene in the book points to that being the case. So, it’s anyone’s guess who the couple having sex in the newlywed’s bedroom could have been.
Who Dies in The Guest List?
The person who dies in The Guest List is Will, the groom.
Who Is the Killer in The Guest List?
The killer in The Guest List is Aoife, the wedding planner. As it turns out, she is the sister of the boy Will and Johnno terrorized at school, Darcey Malone, aka Loner. She blames them for his death, so she kills Will and frames Johno for the murder out of revenge.
Is the Island In The Guest List a Real Place?
No - the island in The Guest List, Inis an Amplóra/Cormorant Island, is not real. According to the author though, it is “a composite of several of Connemara’s islands” and is rooted “firmly in local mythology, geology, flora, and fauna” to make it feel real.
Will The Guest List Be Made Into a Movie?
Yes - according to Lucy Foley,The Guest List is going to be made into a limited TV series, though a movie is a possibility. Here's exactly what she said: "The Guest List adaptation is a long way down the road since they're doing The Hunting Party first. They've got a screenplay written for The Hunting Party and they've got a lead actress attached who would be perfect. But then they've got The Guest List as well. They've got the TV/film rights, so it's not that they definitely won't make a film - it's just they're focusing on TV. They're talking about a Big Little Lies type format, each one would be about an hour; high production value and quite glossy. Each [season] would be six to ten episodes."
5 Books Like The Guest List by Lucy Foley
If you enjoyed this book and are hoping to find another who-dun-it mystery like it, the good news is that there is no shortage of options in the genre. However, it can be hard to tell which book is actually going to be similar, let alone any good. Fortunately, given how many books I read and review, I have a pretty good idea. With that, here are my top five recommendations for books like The Guest List.
1. Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney
From the covers to the settings to the descriptions, Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney and The Guest List have a lot in common. However, Daisy Darker is a And Then There Were None retelling, so I don't think it will feel too much like a repeat of The Guest List. Here's a description for you: "After years of avoiding each other, Daisy Darker’s entire family has arrived to celebrate Nana’s birthday in a crumbling gothic house on a tiny tidal island, and each has brought their secrets along with them. Then at the stroke of midnight, Nana is found dead. An hour later, another family member follows… Trapped on an island where someone is killing them one by one, the Darkers must reckon with their present mystery as well as their past secrets, before the tide comes in and all is revealed."
2. The Last Word by Taylor Adams
Like The Guest List, Taylor Adams' thriller, The Last Word, takes place in an isolated coastal location. While it's not exactly a who-dun-it with a big cast of characters, it was the level of creepy and scary that I wish The Guest List had been. So, if that was something you wanted more of, then I think this is well worth a read. Here's what it's about exactly: "Emma Carpenter is house-sitting on the rainy Washington coast with only her dog, an enigmatic old neighbor, and the house’s owner (via text) to keep her company. After reading a poorly written - but gruesome -horror novel, she posts a one-star review that lands her in hot water online with the author himself. Soon after, disturbing incidents start to occur at night. It can’t just be a coincidence, can it? It was strange enough for this author to bicker with her online; could he be stalking her, too?"
3. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
In more ways than one Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None and Lucy Foley’s The Guest List are similar, from the remote island location to the multiple suspects. It’s a classic murder mystery that is a must-read for any mystery/thriller reader, especially if you've never experienced the magic of Agatha Christie, The Queen of Mystery. For those who don't know, here's what it's about: "First, there were ten - a curious assortment of strangers summoned as weekend guests to a little private island off the coast of Devon. Their host, an eccentric millionaire unknown to all of them, is nowhere to be found. All that the guests have in common is a wicked past they're unwilling to reveal - and a secret that will seal their fate. For each has been marked for murder. When they realize that murders are occurring as described in the rhyme, terror mounts. One by one they fall prey. Before the weekend is out, there will be none. Who has choreographed this dastardly scheme? And who will be left to tell the tale?"
4. The Villa by Rachel Hawkins
One of the things I personally loved about The Villa by Rachel Hawkins was that it's sort of a 2-for-1. It's a dual timeline story so you get a who-dun-it like The Guest List that takes place in the past and a thriller of sorts in the present. Here's the description: "This girls trip to Italy is supposed to be a chance for childhood best friends, Emily and Chess, to reconnect. But when Emily finds a diary from the summer when brutal murder happened at the villa, she begins to think the murder of the notorious rock star, Noel Gordon, wasn’t just a tale of sex, drugs, and rock & roll gone wrong. Maybe something more sinister occurred.Yet the closer that Emily gets to the truth, the more tension she feels developing between her and Chess. As secrets from the past come to light, equally dangerous betrayals from the present also emerge- and it begins to look like the villa will claim another victim before the summer ends."
5. The Family Game by Catherine Steadman
While it's not exactly a who-dun-it, after reading both The Guest List and The Family Game, I can't help but see subtle similarities between the books, especially in the final act of the book. Here's a brief description for you: "In love and freshly engaged, Harry and Edward's bliss is interrupted by the reemergence of the Holbecks, Edward's eminent family and the embodiment of American old money. Harry is drawn to the glamour and sophistication of the Holbecks, who seem to welcome her with open arms, but everything changes when she meets Robert, the inescapably magnetic head of the family. At their first meeting, Robert slips Harry a cassette tape, revealing a shocking confession which sets the inevitable game in motion. What is it about Harry that made him give her that tape? As she tries to find the truth, she must endure the Holbecks' savage traditions all the while knowing the game could be deadly."