THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER“My favorite kind of whodunit, kept me guessing all the way through, and reminiscent of Agatha Christie at her best — with an extra dose of acid.” — Alex Michaelides, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Silent Patient Everyone’s invited…everyone’s a suspect…During the languid days of the Christmas break, a group of thirtysomething friends from Oxford … suspect…
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.
The trip begins 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, just as a historic blizzard seals the lodge off from the outside world.
Two days later, on New Year’s Day, one of them is dead. . . and another of them did it.
Keep your friends close, the old adage says. But how close is too close?
DON’T BE LEFT OUT. JOIN THE PARTY NOW.
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Set at a remote estate in the Highlands of Scotland, this whodunnit was really a twisty little read. I have stayed on a remote estate in the Scottish Highlands, and I was perfectly creeped out. There are so many questionable characters that you can’t stop reading until you know who did it. Great escape for a cold weekend
A snowbound setting, a killing, and multiple suspects—as soon as I read the premises for this book I was all in. A group of old friends, together since college, reunite every year to catch-up with one another—this time over the New Year’s holiday at an isolated resort in the Scottish Highlands.
This is a privileged group of characters, used to fine dining, the best in champagne and party locations. Some are still stuck in the mindset of their college days when responsibility only lingered on a distant horizon, while others have moved onto the reality of demanding careers or starting a family. At first glance, most are superficial, pretty on the surface with a darker underbelly. There are stress fractures in the friendships, fissures that have been building over time, only to rupture with the glittery festivity of New Year.
Most of the characters are flawed in one way or another and very few are above reproach, but the complexity of their entanglements makes for riveting reading. There is no black or white in their actions but nuanced layers of manipulation, one-upmanship, old grudges, and petty jealousies. If that sounds like people you don’t want to get to know, it’s worth taking the time with these characters. They’re skillfully painted by the author, brushstroke by brushstroke. It’s only in the closing chapters that the surface gloss of each is stripped away, and we see them for who they truly are.
My only complaint is that it does take a while to settle into the book. There are four female POVs and one male. Multiple POVs do not bother me, but all the female narration is done in first person (the male in present third). As a result, it took several chapters before I was able to get a grasp on who was narrating. I had to keep flipping back to the title headers until I adjusted to the voices and who was who. If not for the so many narrators (in first person), this would be a five star read for me. It requires a bit of work at the beginning to adjust, but if you enjoy a murder mystery with complex suspects and multiple motives, this is a delicious tale in which to lose yourself for a few days. Extra kudos to the author for catching me by surprise with the murderer and motive.
Everyone is a suspect in Lucy Foley’s clever murder mystery that harkens back to Agatha Christie and the Orient Express. Friends, lovers, strangers and murder at a secluded hunting lodge make for an absolutely delicious read!
At first, I was afraid there were too many characters to keep track of, but the narrative is quickly whittled to 5 voices who tell the story of a New Year’s Eve trip of twelve people who had been friends since college. Chapters bounce from pre-tragic event to post AND guests of the lodge and the employees. Keeps the reader guessing, not only about who-done-it, but also who-was-done-to.
It took me a while to get into this novel, at first finding the party antics of the characters a bit tedious, but as the back stories revealed themselves one by one I found myself hooked. The author cleverly dropped hints into the plot & with the remote setting managed to create a clear & interesting premise.
I bought the audiobook since I love Gary Furlong’s work. This mystery was excellent! Compelling–and not always likable–characters are expertly narrated by several artists. The remote, atmospheric Scottish setting was wonderfully depicted, and the story was a page-turner. Will definitely read more from this author!
This book kept me intrigued all the way through. It’s hard to guess #whodunnit when you don’t know which character died. Clever! Set aside a day and lose yourself in this page-turner.
An addictive murder mystery full of suspense, secrets and surprises. I loved it!
A group of thirty-something Oxford graduates check into a remote hunting lodge in the Scottish Highlands to bring in the New Year. Of course, snow cuts them off from the outside world. Of course, old grudges surface and secrets are blown apart. Of course, one guest disappears. Of course, I loved it.
The action takes place between 30 Dec 2018 and 2 Jan 2019, and flips between events leading up to a guest’s death on New Year’s Day and the aftermath on 2 Jan. I got a particular thrill out of starting to read it on 30 Dec 2018, but liked it so much that I whizzed through and finished two days ahead of the 2 Jan end date.
I loved all the characters and the various narrators. I did guess the villain of the piece at the outset but loved being proved right.
This is a fantastic read for the festive season and beyond.
I read The Guest List by Foley and immediately fell in love with her writing. I will say though that knowing how she put that Novel together did make it easier to pick up on the hints in this one about everything that was going on, and boy was there a LOT going on. Even knowing many of the twists beforehand didn’t reduce my enjoyment of the book and I finished it within a day. I listened to the audiobook and it was wonderfully narrated my some of ny favorite voice actors. If you enjoy a good mystery thriller Foley should definitely be on your list of must read authors.
Well, I’m still slightly out of breath from the ending. I was not expecting some of the things that happened to happen, and I am in shock.
There’s nothing better than a ‘locked room’ mystery. And although this book is set beside a remote Scottish Highland loch, it’s basically the same thing – a group of people, stuck in a secluded place, separated from the world by weather and snow.
A group of friends meet up every year for a few days over the New Years holiday. Although this year, some of these friends have secrets, and they’re not the only one.
I loved the red herring thrown in (not telling you what it was), but my only complaint is that the red herring was dealt with far too soon. A small complaint, but one nonetheless.
Each chapter was written from a different character’s perspective. I’m aware some people don’t enjoy this style, but it’s one of my favourite styles to read. I blame George R R Martins books for this.
Easy reading with a frenetic end. Well played, Lucy Foley, well played.
I thank Harper Collins UK and NetGalley for providing me an ARC copy of this novel, which I freely chose to review.
Lucy Foley is a new author to me but I was intrigued by the premise of the book, which promised to be a look back at the classics but with a modern touch. The format is easily recognisable (a group of people isolated in a somewhat strange setting, a crime, and the suspicions that fall on all those present). I had recently read The Glass Hotel and although they are set in very different locations (the hotel here is in the Scottish Highlands), there were some similarities in the isolation of the place, and in the motivations of some of the employees to seek such isolation, but this is a more conventional caper, where everybody hides secrets, dislikes and even hatreds, and there is a lot of emphasis placed on the relationship between the university friends who go on holiday together even though they no longer have much in common, and whom we get to know pretty well during the book.
There are plenty of lies, obscure motivations, relationships that are not what they seem to be, infidelity, popularity contests, friction between the so-called friends, and the book is told in two separate timeframes, one after the crime (although a bit like in Big Little Lies, we hear about the aftermath of the crime, but who the victim is doesn’t get revealed until almost the very end), and another that follows chronologically from the time when the friends set off towards their holiday destination. Eventually, both narratives catch up, and we get a full understanding of what has gone on. It’s a great strategy to keep readers guessing, and although I did have my suspicions of at least some of the things that were to come, I admit that there are some interesting red herring thrown into the works . Readers need to remain attentive to the changes in time frame to avoid getting confused as to when things have taken place, although this is clearly stated in the novel.
One of the problems some readers seem to have with the novel is that the characters are not terribly likeable. The story is narrated mostly from the point of view of several of the women: three of the female friends (Emma, the newest one to arrive in the group; Miranda, the Queen Bee who never quite lived up to everybody’s expectations; and Katie, Miranda’s best friend, the only single one, who seems to have outgrown the group in many ways ), and also Heather, the manager of the hotel, who has secrets of her own (and is one of the nicest characters)— all of them told in the first person—, and one man’s point of view, Doug, another employee of the hotel, although in his case we get a third-person account, and one marred by many of his personal difficulties (let’s say that he is not a very reliable narrator). Reading the events from several points of view helps us gain perspective and heightens our suspicions as to what might really be going on. I must agree that the characters, probably because we are privy to their internal thoughts rather than to others’ opinions of them, are difficult to like. Self-obsessed or obsessed with others, with random likes and dislikes, cruel, or unable to face the truth… none of them are people most of us would choose as friends. Considering this is a book about a group of friends, it does offer a particularly grim view of old friendships, emphasising the lack of sincerity and honesty and the dark undertones to most of the relationships between them. On the other hand, I must admit that dark —or at least grey— characters make for a much more interesting reading experience than goody two-shoes.
The writing style is straight forward and manages to create a clear image of the characters in the reader’s mind. There are some rather memorable scenes as well, but the book takes its time building up the background and the relationships, rather than moving at a fast pace, but still manages to keep readers intrigued and interested.
As I said, I had my suspicions about who the guilty party might be and what was behind the murder from early on (the clues are all there), but nonetheless I found the ending satisfying, and I think most readers will feel the same.
In sum, a solid thriller, that brings back memories of old style mystery novels, with more emphasis on the psychological aspect, and which also has much in common with the domestic noir style (although here transposed to the Highlands). An interesting novel for lovers of the genre, and one that I’m sure in the right hands could be turned into a successful movie.
The Hunting Party has a tight plot with not a minute wasted on miscellaneous matters. It is within the space of three days surrounding the New Year when the story unfolds from two opposite ends, heading towards the denouement with great precision and control. The idea of relaying the events from before and after the murder alongside each other is original and skilfully executed. It is not only the events that are developed and layered in this unorthodox fashion, but also the characters. Every new chapter adds a new dimension, a new discovery and takes the reader that one small step closer to the finale.
The atmosphere is equally well constructed. As a reader you feel as if you are being guided out of a thick wintry fog following those faint flickering lights of the narrative that become stronger and expose more ground ahead.
For me, the weakest aspect of the book is the characterisation. The story is told from the perspective of a few main characters, most of whom speak in the first person. The personas and their secrets are different, but I found their voices indistinct. Perhaps not enough effort went into rendering them distinguishable with a few language quirks for example. Perhaps, they are so uniform because the authorial intent was to show their commonality: of background, education, class, mentality. Be it as it may, I found those characters bland and they did not win my affection or interest.
Overall, a gripping thriller delivered with a secure hand.
If you want to get lost for a while, hide away in this icy hunting lodge where there’s a killer amongst the champagne-guzzling, hoity-toity guests. They’re a gang of old friends so there’s plenty of baggage to rifle through. A lot of fun, but you will be yearning for a bottle of bubbles by the end.
The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley reminds me of the Christopher Pike books I read as a teen, but with a grown-up feel. This is a great thing since Pike was one of my favorite authors when I was younger and I’ll still reread one of his books every so often.
Foley did a fantastic job giving the reader a feeling of isolation in the Scottish Highlands. And I could feel the loneliness of the two characters that live and work at the lodge. Even though they have each other, they keep themselves apart because of demons in their past that they still have to reconcile with. I do feel that Foley could have cut down some of the atmospheric scenes of the stark countryside. I found myself skimming after a while because I wanted to get back to the vain guests and find out all their dirty little secrets, as well as the murderer.
All of the guests are very well off and seem narcissistic to one degree or another. I know some readers will really be put off by this, but for me it made it more fun when they got their comeuppance. Even though I didn’t feel much for the guests because I have never been as wealthy as them or have had rich people problems, I did feel for the lodge’s caretakers so that had me more invested in the book.
There were smaller secrets revealed throughout the book, which kept me turning the pages. And then the big reveal at the end was a fun twist that I thought was going to go another way. Foley did a great job dropping some clues about part of it, but the other part completely threw me for a loop, which is something I always enjoy.
If you’re a fan of Christopher Pike, suspense, or seeing rich people not always getting away with their sins, this books might be one that you enjoy.
I really enjoy mysteries where you, the reader, don’t know who the murdered or victim are until close to the very end. This one was perfect for me, with plenty of unpleasant people being forced to face their pasts. A really fun, quick read.
I’d never read a book by Lucy Foley before, but this one won’t be my last by this author. The main part of this novel is set at a remote Scottish hunting lodge during a snowstorm. The setting itself is an important character and is depicted very well, as are the characters who are staying and working at the lodge. The premise for the story is that college friends and their spouses have taken a different holiday together every year for ten years. This year, a relative newcomer to the group, Emma, is in charge of planning the trip. The story introduces each of the friends and their husbands and wives as well as the one single woman, Katie, through chapters told in that person’s voice. Without giving away spoilers, the group becomes trapped at the lodge during a snowstorm in which one of them is found murdered. Foley deftly weaves clues throughout the plot, many of which are red herrings. The best part that I enjoyed was trying to guess not only the identity of the killer but also the person who was killed who is referred to as “the guest” in the early part of the book. I realized who the victim was soon enough, but I didn’t guess the killer until very close to the end. Even then, more twists awaited me. The epilogue made sense and tied things up nicely. Don’t miss this if you like a book with an interesting setting, well-drawn characters, and lots of twists.
Did not see that coming
I liked this but not as much as The Guest List. Similarly to The Guest List, this book follows a group of old college friends, multiple points of view and a murder where any one of the friends could be the killer. This story is set at a hunting lodge in the Scottish Highlands. Having been to the Scottish Highlands, it took me back to a time when I could travel!! An easy read and definitely a page turner.
This was a spontaneous check out from the library. It was on a new items table and looked good. The author was completely new to me. It was the audio version and I was excited that there were multiple narrators including at least one male voice. So often the narrators have to do both genders with the opposite gender being pretty bad.
Well, like the story, that narration was bad. Not that the narrators themselves may have been bad, but the female voices all sounded too similar and made it difficult when the POV changed.
The story was hardly original and saying the characters were more than one dimensional stereotypes is giving too much praise. I was quickly wishing it had used the old trope of everyone getting bumped off one by one because they were all hideous individuals.
I gave up somewhere in the middle of disk 4 of 8. Only kept going that long because I was listening in the car and it was that or the radio with ads. After 3+ disks the ads were the lesser evil.