The Guest List is a fun thriller and makes a good summer read.
It opens with a wedding being set up on an island off the coast of Ireland, which is deserted either because: (a) the locals got tired of living without electricity and running water, or (b) the island is haunted by the ghosts of all the people who have drowned after being sucked down into the bog that covers most of the island. (No, this isn’t a traditional ghost story.) While this premise is not unique, it does create the setting as one where you know nothing good can come of having a wedding here.
The bride and groom, a blogger/influencer and an up-and-coming reality television celebrity respectfully, are about as nice as you’d stereotypically expect. Then, during the wedding, the power goes out, a waitress screams, and she swears she saw a body outside the tent. Who does (did?) the body belong to and how did it get there?
I really liked how the timeline of this book jumped back and forth between the actual wedding itself and the day before, which doesn’t sound like a lot of time, but the reader learns a lot about the characters’ pasts even during these short 24 hour jumps, which allows the author to build the story and suspense without bogging the reader down with too much long backstory.
While this is definitely not an Agatha Christie novel in anything but setting and format, it is a quick read that has a fulfilling ending.
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley and Harper Fiction in exchange for my honest review. It has not influenced my opinion.