Guest List
by Lucy Foley
★ Top 25 book of 2020 · #11 on Best Books of 2020
A glamorous wedding on a remote island off Ireland turns deadly as old resentments and jealousies surface among the guests. Told through shifting viewpoints, it pays homage to Agatha Christie and rewards close attention to every detail.
Best for: Fans of Agatha Christie-style whodunits with multiple narrators and a closed setting
Guest List is #11 on BookWard's Best Books of 2020, out of 65 2020 books that cleared our data bar.
What Guest List is about
A lavish wedding is being staged on a remote island off the coast of Ireland, the kind of event built to be photographed for a magazine. The bride is a smart, ambitious magazine publisher. The groom is a handsome, charming rising television star. Around them gather the plus one, the best man, the wedding planner and the bridesmaid.
Beneath the designer dress, the luxe party favors and the boutique whiskey, something dark is waiting. Lucy Foley builds a tense, atmospheric mystery in the spirit of Agatha Christie, and the cast list itself hints at a body. Readers who like to play detective should notice the small, seemingly throwaway details about the characters' pasts. They matter more than they first appear.
Guest List on the Best Books of 2020
Guest List came out in 2020. Of the 65 books first published in 2020 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #11 on our Best Books of 2020 list.
Why it made the list: 407 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.8 out of 5 (13 ratings). The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
Nearby on the 2020 list
- The Tower of Nero Rick Riordan, #9
- Piranesi Susanna Clarke, #10
- The Almanack of Naval Ravikant Eric Jorgenson, #12
- From Blood and Ash Jennifer L. Armentrout, #13
See all Best Books of 2020 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 2019 Best Books of 2021.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 367 want to read it, 11 are reading it now and 29 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 4.8 out of 5 from 13 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 72 | 55% |
| Reader love | 94 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 65 | 20% |
Questions about Guest List
When was Guest List published?
Guest List by Lucy Foley was first published in 2020.
Was Guest List one of the best books of 2020?
Guest List is #11 on BookWard's Best Books of 2020, out of 65 2020 books that cleared our data bar. 407 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.8 out of 5 (13 ratings).
Why is Guest List on the Best Books of 2020 list?
407 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.8 out of 5 (13 ratings).
More of the best books of 2020
- Good Girl, Bad Blood Holly Jackson, #1
- The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Suzanne Collins, #2
- The Psychology of Money Morgan Housel, #3
- The Inheritance Games Jennifer Lynn Barnes, #4
- Heartstopper, Volume 3 Alice Oseman, #5
- The Midnight Library Matt Haig, #6
See the full Best Books of 2020, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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