Book Review: The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley
The Hunting Party
Author: Lucy Foley
Published: January 24, 2019
Audiobook
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: November 29- December 3, 2021
Jessica’s Rating: 3 stars
Book Description:
Everyone’s invited…everyone’s a suspect…
For fans of Ruth Ware and Tana French, a shivery, atmospheric, page-turning novel of psychological suspense in the tradition of Agatha Christie, in which a group of old college friends are snowed in at a hunting lodge . . . and murder and mayhem ensue.
All of them are friends. One of them is a killer.
During the languid days of the Christmas break, a group of thirtysomething friends from Oxford meet to welcome in the New Year together, a tradition they began as students ten years ago. For this vacation, they’ve chosen an idyllic and isolated estate in the Scottish Highlands—the perfect place to get away and unwind by themselves.
They arrive on December 30th, just before a historic blizzard seals the lodge off from the outside world.
Two days later, on New Year’s Day, one of them is dead.
The trip began innocently enough: admiring the stunning if foreboding scenery, champagne in front of a crackling fire, and reminiscences about the past. But after a decade, the weight of secret resentments has grown too heavy for the group’s tenuous nostalgia to bear. Amid the boisterous revelry of New Year’s Eve, the cord holding them together snaps.
Now one of them is dead . . . and another of them did it.
Keep your friends close, the old adage goes. But just how close is too close?
Jessica’s Review:
The Hunting Party is a possibly intriguing novel that did not quite deliver for me. This type of novel has been written many times before, and I have read several like this, so the over-used trope did not bother me as I love a good thriller. The downfall for me was that I was just not attached to any of the characters, so I did not care who was murdered.
I did like that as the reader we have to find out who both the victim and killer are: That was not expected! Once the victim was known, I figured out who the killer was, but not why. And the why did not work for me. This would be a novel where if you enjoyed it you would have to read it again to fully comprehend everything that happened. But since this one was only ok read for me, I will choose to pass on a re-read, or re-listen to in my case.
I listened to the audiobook version and it was a cast narration! This definitely helped with listening to the novel, and one of the narrators is one of my favorites: Imogene Church!
Overall, this one was not for me, but it could be for you!
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK