I loved the snowy Scottish Highlands setting of Lucy Foley's last murder mystery, The Hunting Party. If you haven't read it, save it for New Year's. It's about a group of college chums reuniting for a holiday of drunken mayhem and murder - a delightfully frightening way to bring in the new year.
Secluded Cormorant Island off the coast of Ireland is an excellent follow-up locale for Foley's most recent mystery, The Guest List. The island is remote, yet beautiful, surrounded by treacherous waters and dotted with sharp cliffs, caves and peat bogs that will suck a person into its depths within mere moments, never to return. So, a perfect spot for a glamorous wedding with lots of feral guests wandering about drunk on Guinness and fine Irish whiskey!
Imagine the most elegant and lavish wedding with a flawless celebrity bride and groom surrounded by their nearest and dearest. Now imagine a stormy nightmare on a rocky island with a murderous lot of enemies and out of control rugby players who haven't seen each other since "Uni." A wild crowd mentality takes over as the guests start doing shots and chanting maniacally while the traditional Irish band plays on. The next thing you know everyone is covered in blood and peat and red velvet cake and there's no way off the island until morning.
The novel starts out with the wedding venue losing power and a chilling scream. The rest of the novel unravels what's happened since the guests started arriving on the island the day before. Told by the bride, the plus one, the bridesmaid, the best man, and the wedding planner, it turns out there are plenty of motives and even more bad behavior. It's a tragedy what happened to the cake. As for the rest, you'll have to read the book to find out!