Review of "The Hunting Party" by Lucy Foley

Review of "The Hunting Party" by Lucy Foley

The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley is a chilling, atmospheric thriller set in a remote hunting lodge in the Scottish Highlands. The story follows a group of old university friends that reunite every year, and this year they are ringing in the New Year together. Much like her other novel “The Guest List” author Lucy Foley uses the isolated setting to heighten the tension and suspense. Along with the friends are the lodge crew who offer some suspicious activity that adds to the mystery.

One of the novel’s greatest strengths is its shifting points of view. We get to know each character through the lens of the other characters, and we get bits and pieces of the puzzle. The story also jumps back and forth between present day murder, and the past two days leading up to the murder. The structure mirrors the blizzard surrounding the lodge, which is disorienting, relentless, and impossible to escape. The novel does deal with themes of loyalty, ambition, expectations and the dark past of friendships. However, the ending doesn’t really deal with or resolve any of those issues.

Unlike “The Guest List” I didn’t like the characters in this book, and I was about 20% into reading it before I actually got hooked, and started to find the characters interesting enough to continue reading. I don’t think Foley drops enough subtle clues or hints about each characters motivation and some characters are completely useless, such as Samira and her husband Giles. The main focus characters are Miranda, Emma, Katie, and Heather, the last one being the manager of the lodge. There is just too many characters that are unnecessary.

While the setting for the novel does provide isolation and intrigue, it also feels too deliberate, because of the added information that doesn’t have anything to do with the actual murder. This story has too many red herrings and the actual serial killer they keep mentioning actually had nothing to do with them and was found miles away in another town. The other suspicious characters also prove pointless and only there to add to this side plot about the hunting lodge being a front for criminal activity.

The pacing in this book I felt was slower than “The Guest List”, and it took too long to reveal actual information about the group of friends. The end twist was a bit shocking but only because it feels like information was left out and purposely revealed at end. I also felt like the character that died wasn’t as deserved and it was more of an accident than deliberate. Which is fine, but a bit anti-climactic. Also, it feels like the friends that were the ones harboring secrets and betrayal, get off scot free.

So, overall I did enjoy this novel, the short length helps. It’s a decent suspense but not a good mystery because you really have no way of guessing who died or who the killer is, until the last few chapters. The ending comes a bit out of left field, but I think it mostly works. If you enjoyed “The Guest List” you might like this novel. If you just like a short, character driven suspense then this might be for you. But if you’re look for a proper mystery that you can have fun guessing  along with, then this is not for you.