Blog Tour & Review: The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley

Title: The Hunting Party

Author: Lucy Foley

Published: February 2019, William Morrow

Format: ARC Paperback, 336 pages

Source: Publisher

Summary: 

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?

My thoughts:  As soon as I read the description of this book, I knew I wanted to read it…a book that is being recommended for Ruth Ware and Tana French fans – sign me up! And one that has a closed-room/locked door vibe to it – I knew it was a book I would love…and I absolutely did!

I will say, to be 100% honest, this book starts off a bit slow…but trust me when I say, hang in there. It will eventually pick up and I’m glad I stuck with it…I was totally worth it! It’s hard at first because there are multiple narrators – 5 to be exact – and it takes a while getting everyone straight. But once you figure out who is who, the book does become quite addicting. It moves back and forth in time from the present to a few days prior, as well as going a bit farther back in history as the characters reminisce about their relationships. But, the chapters are relatively short and that just adds to the addictiveness of the book because just as you start to get into something with one character, the chapter ends and you switch narrators!

Right from the start we learn someone is missing and then found dead, but it is not until the end that we learn who that person is…I loved this! It causes all types of speculation as you are reading – who is it? Who did it?  On top of the group of friends that have rented out this wilderness resort, there are two people from Iceland staying there and they are quite intriguing in and of themselves. Then there are the two staff members – Heather and Doug. They have their own unique history as to why they have decided to live in isolation at this lodge full-time and this just leads to more speculation. 

I love when I don’t necessarily love all the characters and this is definitely the case here. The group of friends are certainly an interesting group and we see that not is all as it appears to be with them. The layers are slowly pealed back as we dig deeper into them all and what we learn is startling to say the least!

This book was just pure fun! A great murder-mystery set in a chilling destination where the atmosphere definitely plays a part, characters that you love to hate, and twists that will keep you guessing all the way through. This is the first book I’ve read by Lucy Foley but it certainly will not be the last!

About the Author: Lucy Foley is
a former editor at Hodder Fiction and has been both a literary agent
and a bookseller. An avid painter, she now writes full time and lives in
London, England.

 

Authors Links:   Twitter   |   Facebook    |   Instagram

 

Purchase Links:   HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Be sure to check out all the other stops on the blog tour and follow the tour on Twitter (hashtags:  #TLCBookTours & #thehuntingparty).