The Stranger at the Wedding

'A MASTERPIECE' SUNDAY TIMES
'Original . . . unpredictable' DAILY MAIL
'A dark unpredictable read' BELLA
'Will have you compulsively reading' HEAT
'Gauntlett is a master of misdirection' NEW YORK TIMES

'SHARP, SHOCKING, TWISTING AND TWISTED . . . DARKLY THRILLING, CLEVER AND UNSETTLING' CHRIS WHITAKER


The beautiful bride

Annie never believed in true love. Not until she caught sight of Mark on a crowded commuter train. It wasn’t until months later that they finally had their picture-perfect first date and after a whirlwind romance, they are now about to tie the knot.

The handsome groom

Both Annie and Mark have suffered tragedy – their shared experience of sorrow has brought them together, but at times the pressure of those losses has also threatened their happiness. Today they will leave all of that in the past, and forge a new life. But not everyone gathered here has come to toast the new couple.

The stranger

And Annie quickly realises that her new life isn’t going to be the happily ever after she had planned.


Whose side are you on?


Readers can't stop talking about The Stranger at the Wedding:

'Fantastic'
'Messed up'
Exhilarating and fabulous'
'Very addictive ... fantastic'

Accomplished … a masterpiece of misdirection … the final revelation ... a stunner Sunday Times
Gauntlett is a master of misdirection, buffeting us around as he swerves around corners and makes sudden U-turns. Is this book more like “Rebecca” or more like “Gone Girl”? More important, what’s wrong with Mark? (Is that even the right question to ask?) We won’t know until the truly chilling ending New York Times
Sharp, shocking, twisting and twisted. The Stranger at the Wedding is darkly thrilling, clever and unsettling -- Chris Whitaker, Sunday Times bestselling author of We Begin at the End, winner of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2021
Clever and intriguing, this debut novel is a delightful ‘who do you trust?' Woman's Weekly
Twisty-turny… [will] have you compulsively reading until the devastating final conclusion Heat
An un-put-downable thriller about a couple whose relationship unravels on their wedding night. . . . Gauntlett moves fluidly between past and present . . . without once allowing the pace to flag. By the time the explosive finale arrives, readers may find they’ve been up all night Publisher's Weekly
Annie and Mark's past is skilfully revealed and concealed . . . original . . . unpredictable Daily Mail
A dark unputdownable read Bella
The Stranger at the Wedding is a cunning, twisted mystery that will keep you second guessing who you can trust until the very last page -- Sara Ochs, author of The Dive
Gripping Crime Monthly
A. E. Gauntlett takes the normal anxieties found in relationships . . . and twists them into something horrible . . . as the story darkens, the tensions rises Literary Review
A terrific slow burn of a thriller with beautifully-constructed twists -- Sarah Pekkanen, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Wife Between Us and The Golden Couple
Superbly twisty and thoroughly addictive -- Alice Clark-Platts
An elegant, chilling thriller that kept me guessing – I was gripped by this clever study of love, obsession and the myths we tell ourselves about a happy ever after -- Phoebe Locke
Beautifully insidious, The Stranger at the Wedding is a perfectly unsettling debut, bringing the sense that all is about to go to smash coupled with a story so compelling you’ll lose sleep desperate to know what happens next. Gauntlett’s elegant writing weaves seamlessly between past and present, intertwining joy and fear until dread takes over completely. And that dread oozes from the pages… This is the book everyone will be talking about this year. Outstanding -- J.T. Ellison, New York Times bestselling author of It’s One of Us
Nothing about The Stranger at the Wedding is as it seems — especially how the happy couple came to be. Surprises lurk throughout this thrilling blend of myth, suspense, and delightfully disturbing twists -- Chris Cander, author of The Weight of a Piano
Beautifully written and completely gripping ... a propulsive, consuming mystery -- Amy Jordan
The Stranger at the Wedding is an eerie and intelligent meditation on how our pasts shape us, subverting readers' expectations the moment you believe you've guessed the plot. A. E. Gauntlett has produced an expertly written tale whose characters possess rich and recondite interiorities and intentions, about which you'll be guessing until the last page -- Flora Collins, author of Nanny Dearest
A modern-day Talented Mr Ripley, a tale of obsession and deception, you won’t be able to put it down -- Abigail Bergstrom, author of What a Shame
There’s more than one stranger at the wedding in A. E. Gauntlett's dark and clever debut. A keep-you-guessing thriller that slyly examines the leaps of faith required by saying “I do", The Stranger at the Wedding will keep its readers flipping pages right up to its shocking conclusion -- L. Alison Heller, author of The Neighbor’s Secret

A. E. Gauntlett completed an MA in English Literature at King's College, London in 2010, before joining the publishing industry as a literary agent. The Stranger at the Wedding is his debut thriller, written in secret while agenting the work of numerous bestselling authors of his own.

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