The Guest List
Synopsis: On a windswept island off the Irish coast, guests gather for the wedding of the year. Jules Keegan is a stylish, ambitious publisher of a digital life-style magazine, betrothed to Will Slater, an up and coming TV star of an outdoor adventure show in the mold of Bear Grylls. The wedding will be featured in the magazine of course, so every detail is perfect, of course. 150 guests arrive, and ultimately, one person dies a distinctly unnatural death. Everyone has a secret and many have a motive, so let’s see if you can figure it out.
Nicholette’s review : A dark, atmospheric murder mystery full of dislikeable characters, but a fun summer read. I enjoyed it, but it probably won’t be one that I remember for long. This has a Big Little Lies vibe, teasing the upcoming murder at the beginning, then spending most of the book setting up the characters, their flaws and foibles, before very late in the game getting to the actual murder. It’s told in alternating points of view between multiple characters, and this made the first half of the book a bit slow. Once the action really gets going, it did have some interesting twists that caught me by surprise. I also found it a bit intriguing that I had to spend most of the book speculating about who the culprit AND the victim would be! I do like a classic “closed room” mystery, and I liked it, but I can’t rave about it.
Rating: 3/5
Corey’s review: This was a great quick read. It wasn’t earth shattering, but it was entertaining. I loved the eerie setting of the island and the double mystery of who was killed and who was the murderer. There were some unpredictable twists that kept it entertaining. At first, all of the characters are hard to keep track of and I was unsure how they would all become connected, but sure enough they do! If you like mystery books and are a seasonal reader I think think this would be a good early fall read. There is something about the setting and the murder that makes the perfect October read.
Rating: 3/5
Menu: Weddings always have great food, and certainly these guests had fine cuisine and craft whiskey to boot. The wedding was in Ireland, but I felt like it was a good excuse to make one of my favorite Ina Garten recipes for Italian Wedding Soup. I know, they weren’t in Italy….. but the soup is delicious with spicy chicken meatballs, spinach, pasta and lots of vegetables. You can’t go wrong with Ina, or Italian!
FOR THE MEATBALLS
3/4 pound ground chicken
1/2 pound chicken sausage, casings removed
2/3 cup fresh bread crumbs
2 teaspoons minced garlic
3 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
1/4 cup Pecorino Romano cheese
3 Tablespoons milk
1 extra large egg, lightly beaten
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
FOR THE SOUP
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup minced yellow onion
1 cup diced carrots
3/4 cup diced celery
10 cups chicken Stock
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup small pasta such as tubetini or stars
1/4 cup minced dill
12 ounces baby spinach
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. For the meatballs, place the ground chicken, chicken sausage, bread crumbs, garlic, parsley, Romano, Parmesan, milk, egg, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a bowl and combine gently with a fork. With a teaspoon, drop 1 to 1 1/4 inch meatballs onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. You should have about 40 meatballs. Bake for 30 minutes until cooked through and lightly browned. Set aside. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil over medium to low heat in a large soup pot. Saute the onion, carrots and celery until softened, 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add the pasta to the simmering liquid and cook for 6-8 minutes until the pasta is tender. Add the fresh dill and then the meatballs to the soup and simmer for one minute. Stir in the fresh spinach and cook for one minute until just wilted. Ladle into soup bowls and sprinkle each serving with extra grated Parmesan cheese.
