The Guest List by Lucy Foley (Goodreads Author)
Amy Caudill‘s review
A murder mystery at a wedding held on an isolated island gives a promising start to this novel by Lucy Foley. The author paints a dreamy romantic scene populated with ruins, including the foundations of a chapel for the wedding itself, on an island haunted by legends and folktales of the now-absent native population.
The author also, through continual change of point of view throughout each short chapter, develops three promising suspects who each have motive and perhaps opportunity to commit murder.
First up, Johnno, the betrayed “best friend” who shares a history of dark secrets with the murder victim, the bridegroom Will. Next, Olivia, the bridesmaid and younger sister of the bride, had a clandestine affair with the groom and was nearly destroyed after he rejected her pregnancy which she terminated. Finally the bride, Jules, discovers some of Will’s dark secrets but only after saying “I do.”
While there are plenty of side stories told from various viewpoints, so many of these are left undeveloped and unexplained. For instance, Charlie, the oldest friend of Jules, and his wife Hannah, the “plus one,” have backstories that are interesting but have no direct connection to the main events and no resolution.
In the end, none of the likely suspects is the murderer. The fourth person used for POV, other than the groom himself, seems the least likely person to commit a crime, until she does. The reader is left longing for a great reveal, aka Agatha Christie, as at first the story seems building into; but the actual unveiling is done in a most disappointing way, after the fact. We don’t get the satisfaction of the murder happening “on camera,” so to speak, so the victim can witness his end in the murderer’s eyes. Plus as the story ends, it appears that the true killer will get away with the crime, because one of the more likely suspects has been arrested.
While this story premise had promise, the constant shift between point of view was at first hard to follow, and then as I began to figure it out, I was able to solve parts of the mystery prior to its reveal. The novel could have used more development of both plot and subplot, which is why I only give it three stars.