In 1988, Beth, an orphaned teenager, is invited to live with a family at Raven Hall, a sprawling English estate. For a girl who has longed for a family this is an opportunity she doesn’t want to squander, and she quickly becomes friends with their teenage daughter, Nina.
The family has secrets and quirks, however, but Beth keeps her trepidations to herself for fear of angering the family and being sent back to the children's home. But when she’s asked to participate in a lie of sorts, it sets off a chain of events which changes everything.
Thirty years later, Sadie, an unemployed actress, is offered a plum assignment. She is to play a guest at a murder-mystery party weekend held at Raven Hall, an old manor house which has been empty for years. This role has the potential to become a permanent job, and when she is sent a suitcase full of posh clothing and a dossier on her character, she’s excited for the possibilities.
But when she arrives, she quickly realizes things aren’t quite as she was promised. Is everyone playing a part? What is happening to the other guests? Why can’t she focus on what’s going on?
I was hooked on this slow-burn, dual-timeline mystery from the get-go. I loved the ominous feel of the whole thing, and while I had some suspicions about what might happen, I was really interested in how things would unfold.
I love twisty mysteries and I love being surprised. However, I felt like the conclusion of the book just kept throwing twist after twist at me—every time I thought I had grasped the plot, some other secret was revealed. (I refer to this as "But wait, there's more" syndrome.)
Still, The Perfect Guests was a very interesting read and I do like the way Rous writes. I also enjoyed her last book, The Au Pair, which had a similar narrative structure.
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