Welcome to another Crawford’s Mysteries and More! Book Club Novel Review. Novels read in book club will fall into the following categories: Detective (crime is solved by a detective/police officer), Cozy (no violence), Caper (told from the criminal’s POV), and More (not strictly a mystery)! Mysteries will be reviewed based upon the crime taking place, the intrigue of the information that gets revealed, the relative success of red herrings, and the satisfaction of the ending.
The Guest List by Lucy Foley is her fifth standalone novel and could be best categorized as the little sibling Caper Mystery novel that never thought it was good enough and so it had do everything better. Mystery told by the criminal’s POV? How about five POVs where you don’t know who to trust? Red herrings? How about not know who the victim is until the end? The mystery unravels as told through five points of view: the Bride, the Maid of Honor, the Wedding Planner, the Best Man, and the Plus One. You start with the Plus One and are thinking, “Who cares? The wedding party didn’t even really invite you,” but Foley’s voice is so endearing that you are immediately taken with her. Especially when you meet the other three. Along with having to deal with five unreliable narrators, you don’t learn who the victim is until the final pages of the story. Foley’s got you hook, line, and sinker with these two narrative devices. Other mystery authors may have done this before, but Foley does it with such finesse that you don’t even realize you’re being sucked into the bog on this tiny, remote island in the middle of the Atlantic, thinking you’re hearing voices, until your head has slipped below the earth and you realize you should have called for help.
Then, you’ll wake up, realize you have been reading, and eagerly dive back into the story.
Pick up your copy soon. The Guest List is Crawford's Books’ November Book Club pick. Grab your copy today and then join the virtual meeting on November 11, from 6:30-7:30pm.
Interested in what the Mysteries and More Book Club is reading? Check out past reviews and what’s on the horizon: 1/14 Magpie Murders, 2/11 The Henna Artist, 3/11 Mr. Mercedes, 4/8 And Justice There is None, 5/13 The Song of Achilles, 6/10 The Big Sleep, 7/8 The Ice Princess, 8/12 The Devil and the Dark Water, 9/9 A Duty to the Dead, 10/14 Long Bright River, 11/11 The Guest List, 12/ 9 American Dirt
To read more of Shea’s book reviews and author interviews, writing tips, prompts, and memes, find her on her blog Shea’s Bookshelf.