Secrets, Murder…And Then The Lights Go Out

The Guest List by Lucy Foley  (2020) – A high-profile wedding brings disappointments, secrets, and death to a beautiful island off the coast of Ireland.  Will it be “happily ever after” or will someone else die?

Here’s the quick way to think of this book.  Update F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Great Gatsby” characters to the 21st Century, mix in a group of 30-something English public school dude-bros, season with a heavy dose of secrets, and then put them on an island for an Agatha Christie style mystery.  That’s Lucy Foley’s “The Guest List”.

It’s obvious all is not as it appears from the beginning.  Jules is the powerful, successful, and beautiful woman behind one of the hottest websites going.  Will is her gorgeous counterpart and groom.  He’s a rising star of a “reality” tv survival show.  This can’t be just “any” wedding.  It has to be spectacular, a multi-media event.  But, there are complications.  So many complications.

It begins with Jules’ dysfunctional family. The mother who blames Jules for destroying her career.  The absentee father.  And a sister suffering through profound mental illness because of a trauma in her life.  Then there’s Will’s public school friends who are one part “A Separate Peace” and one part “Lord of the Flies”. Jule’s best friend since childhood is a man, now married.  His wife is uncomfortable with the closeness of the bride’s relationship with her husband. Johnno is the best man, and Will’s best mate.  While Will is the golden boy, Johnno’s life has been a downward slide.  Everyone, even the folks who run the facility on the island, has secrets.

It’s an island with a legend of spirits and death.  One lashed by a storm during the evening reception.  A reception disrupted by a young woman’s scream.

And then the lights go out.

Told through the rotating points of view of the main characters, it took me a little while to get into the story.  The primary problem is that “Gatsby” thing.  About half the characters are not particularly likable. But Foley weaves the storylines together with great skill.  Like any good seduction, the secrets reveal themselves slowly, tantalizing the reader.  With each piece of the puzzle, some things are revealed, but others obscured.  Then, as the climax approaches, she turns on the juice and the story takes off.  The final quarter of the book picked me up and carried me off.  It went from a book I enjoyed to one I had to finish.  

A solid mystery and quality storytelling, and a read I enjoyed a great deal. If you love a great mystery, you’ll love it too.