Infinite Books

If only a person’s evil deeds could be seen in a portrait, as in the case of Oscar Wilde’s Dorian Gray, whose picture looks worse and worse following the moral decline of Dorian… But in Lucy Foley’s mystery, “The Guest List,” when the man with no ethical rules, Will Slater, looks in the mirror, his reflection shows a beautiful, golden-haired male, a beloved TV celebrity, a famous contestant of a reality show, “Survive the Night.” Everybody loves him.

Will is a groom at the wedding. His bride, Jules, is a woman who can undoubtedly match his looks, a wealthy online magazine fashion editor. And then are the wedding guests – a group gathered on a small island off the Irish coast to celebrate Jules and Will’s wedding. Every person has a history. Gradually, they discover that even though they are strangers, they are all connected by Will’s past. And the past – especially this kind of past – can’t be forgotten.

This is a good mystery in the tradition of Agatha Christie’s “Murder on the Orient Express” and “And Then There Were None,” a contemporary twist on a classic idea. I listened to the audiobook of “The Guest List,” and it was one of the best-recorded books I came across. The guests’ stories are told in chapters, titled as a chapter narrator’s name. Every narrator was different (I liked their accents), and every point of view was clearly communicated: they all had reasons for killing Will Slater. The question was how soon the murder would be committed. Let’s say that although all dishes at the wedding were excellent, the revenge was the dish best served cold.

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THE GUEST LIST by Lucy Foley, published by William Morrow, 2020