The Stranger at the Wedding by A. E. Gauntlett
This is a recently published mystery thriller that has secured a number of gushing reviews. Its admirers throw around adjectives such as unsettling, shocking and dark in order to characterise the twisty plot that keeps its revelations coming all the way to the final page.
The book’s central concept is a variation on a familiar theme: a seemingly perfect couple, Annie and Mark, are joyously celebrating their wedding when one of the guests, a stranger that no one recognises, has a quiet word with the groom that changes everything.
From that point onwards, the plot moves back and then to the present to show us how Annie and Mark met and the development of their romance. From the flashbacks, we learn that both have tragedy in their pasts and Mark, in particular, struggles with the mysterious loss of his first wife. However, their story seems to be a victory for two damaged people who have found joy again in their new relationship. And following the stranger’s intervention at the wedding, Mark and Annie begin married life under a cloud of suspicion and mistrust. Annie, who is our prime narrator, can’t understand Mark’s coldness towards her. What did the stranger say and what exactly happened to Mark’s first wife?
The set up for this psychological thriller sounds just my thing with its echoes of one of my favourite 80s’ thrillers ‘Jagged Edge’. Unfortunately, it just didn’t do it for me, though. I found the narrative repetitious and slightly limp – there was too much focus on Annie’s unsettled feelings and Mark’s erratic behaviour when I needed more narrative drive. And perhaps I have read too many books and seen too many films of this kind but the ending was not quite the revelation as touted by the critics. It’s an okay read but, in a competitive market, I think there are many better examples of this genre.