Lucy Foley’s ‘The Hunting Party’ Reminds Us Why We Fell in Love with the Mystery Genre To Begin With [REVIEW]

It starts as a gathering of old friends. It ends with a deadly game. (Photo courtesy Canva)

Nine friends. An idyllic vacation. One vindictive killer. A friendly reunion becomes a holiday nightmare in Lucy Foley’s delicious new mystery, The Hunting Party.

William Morrow

For the past ten years, nine old college friends have gathered together every December to bring in the New Year. Now in their thirties, their lives have taken different roads. But this year their paths converge on a trip to a fabulous new hunting lodge in the Scottish Highlands, a setting that is both remote and beautiful and promises plenty of rest and relaxation among the Oxford grads.

Together, they take the train to Scotland, and almost from the moment they board, the merriment begins as the alcohol flows and nearly everyone is unaware of the passing scenery. Yet even as the train steams ahead, it is obvious that their friendships aren’t quite what they used to be, a fact which plants seeds of suspicion in our minds from the opening pages of the novel.

The friends arrive at their destination on December 30, just in time to be caught in one of the most dangerous blizzards they’ve ever seen. But now, isolated and alone with only one another to rely on, they will soon discover that the real threat isn’t the weather. Their true enemy resides among them, a predator ready to kill, and the murderer’s real identity is anyone’s guess.

I’ve always loved a good mystery. From the time I first read Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles back in junior high school, I was enamored by the way these authors crafted puzzling cases infused with thrilling suspense and ominous villains lurking in the shadows of atmospheric settings. Thank goodness these types of stories still exist, and they aren’t only available in classic novels, as Lucy Foley deftly proves.

This is the kind of story that keeps us guessing, nearly from page one. After all, when we start to read we know someone is going to die, but not who or why, or which person has reason to kill. But as we get to know each of the nine Oxford grads, we soon realize that no one is lily white and everyone is suspect. Throw in a blizzard that seems like something out of a Stephen King novel, and all the ingredients stir together to keep even the most jaded mystery enthusiast satisfied.

Rife with insightful characterization and a polarizing cast, we can see why these people have been friends for so long. They seem like individuals who populate our own lives, and that is what makes this book such creepy fun. It will have you wondering just how well you know your closest friends and perhaps even second guessing your next reunion. If you are tired of re-reading all your classic Christie gems, pick up Foley’s The Hunting Party and rediscover why you fell in love with the mystery genre in the first place.

Lucy Foley
(Photo by Philippa Gedge)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lucy Foley studied English literature at Durham University and University College London and worked for several years as a fiction editor in the publishing industry.

She is the author of The Guest List, The Book of Lost and Found, and The Invitation. 

She lives in London. For more information, like her on Facebook, and follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

THE HUNTING PARTY
By Lucy Foley
352 pp. William Morrow. $16.99

Purchase The Hunting Party at one of these fine online retailers: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Half Price Books, HarperCollins, IndieBound, and Powell’s.

The Hunting Party is brought to you in association with TLC Book Tours.