The Stranger at the Wedding: A Novel

by A. E. Gauntlett

Overview

Before love at first sight, there were things no one saw.

Annie never much believed in love. That is, until meeting Mark. After crossing paths on morning commutes, they connect at a group counseling session for trauma survivors. Each recognizes something in the other, though both hide their own troubled pasts.

It’s a whirlwind romance that propels Annie through their courtship, all the way to her wedding day. But as Annie stands at the altar, casting her eyes over the rows of well-wishers, she spots a stranger in the crowd, and she soon learns that her new life isn’t going to be the happily ever after that she had planned. Who is the stranger at the wedding? What really happened to Mark’s first wife? And was Annie and Mark’s meeting as random as it first appeared, or is something more sinister at work?

A sizzling thriller, A. E. Gauntlett's The Stranger at the Wedding will make you think twice before saying “I do.”

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250343345
Publisher:	Holt, Henry & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	08/12/2025
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

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.

Editorial Reviews

Selected for Zibby’s Summer Reading List

“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.”
–The New York Times

“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.”
–Publishers Weekly, starred review

“This addictive thriller is filled with dark secrets, culminating in an unexpected, twisty ending.”
–Booklist

“A rollercoaster of a book that will leave your head spinning.”
–BookTrib

“A terrific slow burn of a thriller with beautifully constructed twists. I thoroughly enjoyed The Stranger at the Wedding.”
–Sarah Pekkanen, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Wife Between Us and The Golden Couple

“Sharp, shocking, twisting and twisted. The Stranger at the Wedding is darkly thrilling, clever and unsettling.”
–Chris Whitaker, New York Times bestselling author of We Begin at the End

“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

“A masterpiece of misdirection.”
–The Sunday Times

“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, USA Today bestselling author of The Weight of a Piano

“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

“The Stranger at the Wedding is an eerie and intelligent meditation on how our pasts shape us, subverting 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

“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

“Superbly twisty and thoroughly addictive.”
–Alice Clark-Platts, author of The Flower Girls

“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, author of The July Girls

“Witty, with great characters and laced with threat and darkness.”
–Suk Pannu, author of Mrs Sidhu’s “Dead and Scone” (now a major TV series)

From the Publisher