“Life is messy. We all know this. Terrible things happen, I learned that while I was still a child. But no matter what happens, life is only a series of days. You can’t control more than a single day. But you can control one of them. Twenty-four hours can be curated. A wedding day is a neat little parcel of time in which I can create something whole and perfect to be cherished for a lifetime, a pearl from a broken necklace.”

A wedding on an Irish island cut off from the mainland. A storm that plunges the event into darkness. A celebrity couple with plenty of buried secrets. An innocent waitress finds a body, whose identity isn’t easily revealed. A story told in alternating POVs, starting from the day before the wedding and ending with the discovery of the murdered and the murderer. Someone on the island harbours a long-buried vengeance, and it’s high time for closure. A dark, mysterious, and thrilling read with revelations that come in waves and leave you gasping in surprise. 

Five POVs: Aoife – the wedding planner, Hannah – the plus one, Olivia – the bridesmaid, Jules – the bride, and Johnno – the best man. Each with their agenda, secrets and simmering resentments. I loved the bond between Olivia and Hannah, both felt like outcasts and yet, found a sense of comfort in each other. Aoife managed to keep everything running smoothly with her stoicism, while it’s a wonder Jules didn’t manage to ruin her wedding with all that built-in rage and jealousy. I could not stand Johnno, Will, and that whole group of friends, who were literal bullies. Despite being fully grown men, their entire identity revolved around the memories of that cursed boarding school, and they were all so pugnacious and repulsive, that I found myself hoping all of them would ‘accidentally’ fall over a cliff and drop dead. Lastly, of course, Charlie was pathetic and spineless, I am so glad I did not have to sit through chapters with his POV. 

The Guest List is a meticulously constructed, mind-blowing thriller, with every chapter building up the tension for the final reveal. The complicated and messy relationships of the characters added an entirely new layer of suspense. I love how all the little clues that were effortlessly sprinkled into the story came together in the end for the major reveal. A few of the minor twists were predictable but in no way did it diminish the overall “thrill” factor. It sounds macabre but I’ve never been happier for someone to drop dead in a story, and knowing who the murderer was a “full-circle” kind of moment. Overall, this was a refreshingly ominous mystery, with superstitious elements, a sinister island, and dubious characters, which I gladly finished in a single sitting. 

“A cormorant on a steeple: that’s an ill omen. The devil’s bird, they call it in these parts. The cailleach dhubh, the black hag, the bringer of death. Here’s hoping that the bride and groom don’t know this … or that they aren’t the superstitious sort.”

• Daisy Darker – Alice Feeney [Book Review]
• None of this is true – Lisa Jewell [Book Review]