Book Review: The Guests by Margot Hunt

I’ve written some cozy mystery before under a different pen name that focused on stories that took place in a severe storm, so I was determined to dislike this book on that principle alone. But alas, that part of the story was done pretty well.

I had other reasons I disliked this story on a foundational level, but it had nothing to do with the story itself. The story was quite good. It was just disappointing to see such relaxed editing for such a successful author. I’ll elaborate . . .

It can often be problematic for experienced editors to read books because we can spot the slightest weakness in a manuscript if we look hard enough. I try not to because I read for enjoyment and genre knowledge above all else, not to nitpick the author’s writing style.

I feel like the issue I had with it was loud enough that even people without an eye for writing could spot it. It was the flashbacks being overrun with had everywhere. This. Is. Not. Necessary. And boy, does it make a story hard to read if you use had in front of every single verb you use when you’re talking about past events.

It’s possible Thomas & Mercer doesn’t give two shits about pristine editing. This is often the case in modern times, even with big, well-known publishing companies. Don’t ask me why. But that’s just how it is. It’s certainly not the author’s fault—at least I hope it’s not.

Anyway, that pet peeve aside, moving on . . .

This isn’t the typical type of thriller you see in domestic-themed stories, which gave me a nice break from all the missing housewives. (I guess I can’t say much about that because my first big series will be about a missing housewife.)

The Guests is a pretty descriptive title because it centers around what happens to a wealthy family in Florida when three people turn up on their private dock right before a category five hurricane busts through the coast.

Going into this, I thought surely the author wouldn’t make it so obvious that the guests were the villains. That’s not exactly how it played out, but they were certainly involved heavily in everything bad that happened. However, many of the other characters contributed to the horrors that ensue in this story.

The protagonist is Marlowe, a wealthy woman who is quite involved in the fine art world. After her parents’ deaths, she inherits their sizable (and expensive) art collection, the prized piece being a drawing created by French Impressionist Cézanne. I thought that part was pretty cool, as I love art history myself.

The drawing is thrown in the safe to protect it from the hurricane raging outside, and nobody thinks much of it until they realize why their “guests” showed up on their dock in the first place.1

But before any of the terror can begin, a pretty enjoyable hurricane party takes place with the following people:

• Marlowe, wife, mother, and art historian

• Isabel, her assistant

• Mick, a friend who’s a handyman that puts on their storm shutters with the kids

• Lee, Marlowe’s husband, a lawyer

• June and Tom, Marlowe and Lee’s twin teenagers

• Zack, Tom’s best friend, like another son to Marlowe

• Felix, June’s friend

• Bo, the ringleader of the guests

• Jason, Bo’s brother

• Darcy, Bo’s girlfriend

Shit hits the fan when Jason starts paying attention to June, and she very much doesn’t like it. Someone steps into protect her, and that someone pays a heartbreaking consequence. It’s an accident, but it’s horrible, nonetheless.

That’s when the true nature and purpose of the guests comes to the surface. And everything falls apart from there.

Most the characters in this story have secrets, and that’s one of the things that makes it work so well. Those secrets all come out and play with each other and create the perfect storm for this thriller. (Pun intended.)

There are lots of great twists and turns in this book. I could have done without the “had” overdose and some of the flashbacks. But overall, I loved it. It took me about three days to read this one. Super easy read.

Highly recommend!

But not during a storm.

Next Up: His & Hers by Alice Feeney