The Guest List - Lucy Foley

 

First person narratives are always fun, more so, if the narrative is in the mystery genre. “The Guest List” by Lucey Foley is one such enjoyable narrative. When one takes this book on and after reading the blurb, it gives an impression of one more addition to the mystery and whodunit types, but as one starts reading this book and gets to know each of the characters, one is surely bound to lose themselves to their stories because it’s much more than a mystery. It’s the story of their lives narrated in an engaging setting, with events after events occurring that keeps hinting towards something sinister on the way until the last chapter where the actual event of the mystery unfolds and one cannot keep calm post it. The mind just goes back to everything said and done and tries to connect the dots and realizes that it was always there in the words, the mystery, the story and the ultimate disclosure of the culprit.

The narrative has been kept smart, very smart. The Book starts from the present and then moves back few days and then keep coming back to the present. In between the two and froth of the days the story of the lives of the characters are narrated. Each person has something to add to the narrative.  The narrative begins on a wedding night of the principal characters, Will ( groom) and Jules ( Bride). Its on their wedding where guests have gathered on a mysterious and secluded Irish Coast. Among the guests, are the other principal characters of the wedding planner, the best man and the bridesmaid, and the Plus one. The story has been narrated from the POV of these six characters ultimately leading to the finale climax. 

The basic structure of the book is kept in such a way that the events keep flowing along with revelation of people’s past one by one. As the wedding progresses, dark secrets begin to spill regarding each of the characters showing the reader that people are not whom they behave to be. Apart from the mystery and also the fact that there’s a killer amongst the guest waiting to unleash his true intension on the target, what keeps the reader glued to the story are smaller moments from the each of characters life. These smaller events and moments have an indirect link to the finale and ultimately forms a chain of reason for people being the way they are.

Amongst the characters, the most interesting one would be the best man and the bridesmaid. Their narrative surely will leave a mark on the readers. Will’s narrative is surely going to give viewers and flashback on certain characters from a Jeffrey Archer Novel. The character of Will is surely going to take back readers to Jeffrey Archer novels of the eighties. Another interesting narrative would be that of “the plus one” i.e.… the character of Hannah.  Hannah will strike a chord with majority of readers. The most difficult character is that of the bride, Jules. She wants everything to be perfect and as per her wish.  At the end as the events unfold, the character of Jules is the one who is the most impacted.

The setting of the story will surely something to take note of. The Irish coast has been described as extremely mysterious and secluded with unending weather disruptions. Through the entire narrative, the reader will keep asking the reason for the destination which will only be revealed towards the finale.

The last five chapters are unputdownable. These five chapters will accumulate all the events and clues and links from the entire book and the finale would be revealed. But the smart narrative takes care to the fact that the finale actually goes on to reveal the event of crime and also the killer. Generally in mystery narrative, the event of crime takes place either in the first act or the second act and then the revelation of the killer in the finale. The different approach in this narrative makes the reader move through the entire read in anticipation of the next act coming up and the keeps the reader guessing as to who eventually would be the victim.

“ The Guest list” by Lucey Foley is enjoyable, mysterious, and has some great moments for mystery lovers.  Don’t miss the continuous chronology of chapters narrated from different POV’s, where in each of the chapter ends with “and then the lights go out.”

An enjoyable long read.