I had pretty high expectations for this book, however I couldn't relate to any of the characters, I felt they were all too privileged so that I couldn't relate to them. The author does create tension and atmosphere really well though so I will definitely read more from her in the future.

Not only is this book dreadfully dull and boring, it has no redeemable characters. They're all annoying and unlikable and though the book is written from many many perspectives, they all sounded like the same person. It got to the point that I forgot who I was reading halfway through a chapter. All of the characters felt like they were in their early twenties rather than their mid thirties, and constantly referred to things that have happened in their past. Maybe I'd care if these characters were more fleshed out, but they're literally labelled as 'the wild one' or 'the violence one' and that is their total character.

The Hunting Party is an atmospheric murder mystery set at a remote holiday lodge in the Highlands. A group of old friends from university meet up to spend a few days at the lodge for the New Year. A few hours after the New Year celebrations, one of the guests is found dead under suspicious circumstances. It is unclear who is the victim... let alone the killer. Everyone at the lodge, including other guests and the staff, are now suspects. To add to the tension even more, a snowstorm has left them stranded at the lodge and nobody can leave.

Told from multiple perspectives, the novel switches from the days leading up to the murder to flashbacks of the characters' lives at university. As we get a better sense of the characters and secrets begin to unravel, the suspense builds as the reader tries to figure out not only who the victim is, but also who did it and why. I loved all the twists and turns in this book. I was led to think a certain way, and when I finally think I've figured it out - another twist! It was a very cleverly executed murder mystery where there are multiple potential suspects all with logical motives.

Though the characters were unreliable narrators, they were characters I loved to hate and it didn't take away from the fact that this is a very well written, slow burning thriller that kept me guessing until the very end. I read most of it in one sitting. I'm very much looking forward to reading more of Lucy Foley's work

Held my attention from start to finish. I was thinking of organising a lodge holiday with some friends, but now I may have changed my mind! Well written and thoroughly enjoyable.

I recently read ‘The Hunting Party’ by Lucy Foley for a buddy read and I really enjoyed it.

This is the kind of thriller that is slow-paced (at least until the last hundred pages or so), character driven and feels like a very classic mystery. Since we know the characters are essentially locked in, we know that one of them must be the killer and one the victim and so spend most of the time reading trying to figure out which is which. That is one thing that is fairly unique about this one, the fact that we are also trying to figure out who the victim is and why?

Throughout this story we flash back between the past and the present, and between characters. As we learn more about their friendship and relationship dynamics, secrets come out and it really is a story of <i>‘how well do we know each other’ </i>.

Overall I really enjoyed this one, it wasn’t the most unique or thrilling mystery/thriller but it was a solid classic, slow-burn, character-driven mystery. Some of the plot twists were pretty predictable but I had fun reading this one and will look out for more from Lucy Foley.

I love a good thriller where the story is character-driven, and this doesn’t disappoint.
A group of friends gather in a hunting lodge to celebrate New Year, but their apparently close friendships aren’t all they seem. In fact, they don’t seem to like each other very much.
Heather is the manager of the lodge, she’s there to escape something in her past. Doug, the enigmatic gamekeeper, is also hiding something. And the so-called friends seem to be hiding a lot of things from each other.
The story is told in flashbacks from the day a body is found, back and forth with the New Year celebrations, so we know what all the tension is leading up to – but we don’t know who the victim is or who did it. And there are so many skilfully placed clues and red herrings that the final revelation is a real surprise.

The landscape is almost a character in itself, beautifully described and so atmospheric.

There were just a couple of things that didn’t work for me. There was one aspect of the final outcome that didn’t quite ring true but I won’t say what that was for fear spoilers. Also, I liked Heather so much, but I felt as though I didn’t get to know enough about her or her history.

That said, this is a really gripping and enjoyable read.

I love a good murder mystery, and The Hunting Party is certainly that. With different character perspectives, I really did feel like Poirot trying to figure out the events leading up to the murder. It was a puzzle, and not at all obvious. This is what makes a good thriller/mystery novel. Lucy Foley is certainly an author who can grip you from the first page, and right up until the very end. More please!

A great book such a lovely cozy read but with suspense too. Would recommend to anyone looking for thriller mystery in the winter months

This book had me hooked from the first chapter, it was clear from the start (on the cover of the book) that there had been a murder, from the start you do not know who was murdered, why , or who done it.

Each chapter gave an insight into the individuals, which made me wonder are they the victim or the perpetrator? I had lots of thoughts on who it might be, which changed constantly the further I got into the book, which was full of twists and turns..

I would never have guessed the outcome, a great book which I thorougly enjoyed and would have no hesitation in recommending.

Thank You for giving me the opportunity of reading this book

I have read some of this author before and enjoyed it. However this for me felt like a bit of a let down.
Nothing really happened. It never peaked for me. It was obvious who was going to be killed.

I read this over a year ago, and I see now that I failed to give feedback.
Since then the book has been published and taken a life of its own. I must say though that I found the story lacked credibility, but wasn't out there enough to be a fantastic work. The writing was competent, but not too superficial to create any strong feelings for any of the characters.
I can see the story making a perfect 2/3 part TV drama as the various twists unfold. Honestly, probably will be better on TV than on the page.

5 Word Review: Friendship, isolation, secrets, love, obsession.

This book has been on my TBR for the longest time. When it first came out I was super excited, but also skint. I requested a copy on NetGalley but then ebooks started triggering migraines. It was quite popular at the library so the waiting list was huge. I had to wait it out, but then my attention wandered elsewhere. Until. I bought it for my mum. For Christmas. From a supermarket.

I kind of wish that I hadn't waited so long to read this. I think it would have impressed me more if I hadn't read so many excellent yet similar books in the interim.

Nevertheless, The Hunting Party is good. It's excellent in fact. It's full of twists and turns and mysteries. The story is engaging, the characters frustrating, the mystery intriguing.

I did have it figured out, but I think that's because as I said before I have read a lot of similar books. It was comfortable to read because I knew the format, but uncomfortable because of the tensions between the characters. It was great.

I think the thing I enjoyed most about The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley was the setting. It was almost a character itself at times, sweeping and vast with endless skies and chilling cold, yet simultaneously claustrophobic. It was picturesque and threatening all at once, and I thought it was very clever. As creepy as it was, I'd love to visit!

If you enjoyed this then I think you'll love STAGS by MA Bennett and In A Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware.

Loved this mystery murder. Kept you guessing until the end, plenty of interesting characters, with twists and turns. Nothing gorey, A group of old friends get together for New Year Eve celebrations in a remote part of Scotalnd. However, these friends are not quite as friendly as they used to be. Good page turner

Books about murders amongst groups of people in remote settings seemed to be a bit of a thing for me last year. First up was In A Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware, then In The Dark by Loreth Anne White, both of which I enjoyed very much. This kind of story, with a whiff of Agatha Christie’s Then There Were None about them, must have been having a bit of a moment. Or maybe it was just me and what I was drawn to. Anyway, The Hunting Party was the last one I got to and I did wonder whether there could be a new twist on a set up that I’d already read twice last year. However, this book had so much hype that I was still looking forward to reading it, and it did not disappoint.

Firstly, the author managed to create a great sense of place in this novel. I have spent a lot of time in very remote parts of Scotland, and the sense of isolation and loneliness that can surround you once you get that far from civilisation, particularly during bad weather when places can really get cut off, is very oppressive and quite unsettling for people who are used to living on our densely populated little island. It is quite hard to believe that such remoteness and inaccessibility can exist at not too great a distance from our crowded cities, and its perils and difficulties can be hard to comprehend for those who have never experienced it before. This atmosphere, expertly captured and magnified in the writing, used to its utmost menace in the plotting, really gives the book a gripping and intense sense of threat.

The characters are brilliantly drawn and imbued with depth and understanding. They feel like real people, and not all particularly pleasant ones, which gives us a rich buffet from which to select our murderer, but it is very hard to choose with the plentiful array of suspects served up. I honestly think I suspected every individual at different points within the novel and had no true idea who was going to be guilty at the end, or what their motive was. I must have changed my mind a dozen times as to who had done it, and turned the pages quicker and quicker to get to the resolution. The pacing was perfect and propelled me to the end without any dip in tension.

I set aside one quiet, lazy Sunday to read this book, and I devoured it cover to cover in a single sitting, with only short breaks for food and beverages and a dog walk. This is the perfect book in which to indulge in a proper reading session, one where you forget the outside world and totally immersive yourself in the narrative the author has created until you feel like you are part of the story and as desperate to find out who is the killer as the characters in the book. A fantastic whodunnit in the best traditions of the genre with a modern flair.

This is such a cleverly written debut from an author I'm looking forward to reading more from. Nine friends go away for NYE to a snowy picture-perfect remote Scottish cabin, yet only 8 are alive on New Year's Day. What has happened to the 9th person. Who killed them and why? You'll read some of the reviews moaning about the characters being unlikeable. Some are, some aren't but that's what's so relatable about this premise. We're all flawed and when a group of friends who've known each other for decades come together for their annual NYE holiday then they're bound to wind each other up and push one another's buttons - but with deadly consequences. The twists are breathtaking and I genuinely didn't see them coming. This is a fabulous, sexy, wintry read and gripping thriller. I can't recommend it highly enough.

This is a gripping and atmospheric murder mystery. In fact, it is not just a first class whodunit but also a whoisdead - a double mystery! I love a snow-bound whodunit and this is a rich, beautifully described, complex and multi-layered thriller. Highly recommended for cosy winter nights.

Wow, this was certainly a breath taking debut novel by Lucy Foley, rather in the style of Agatha Christie but more up to date with a group of old university student friends who spend New Year together. It's certainly atmospheric, you can feel the chills and menace throughout. every chapter. Strange characters add to the mix, you're never sure who is evil and who is just plain scared. A real page turner.

Even though I received both physical and electronic advance copies of this title months ago, I hadn't picked it up despite it receiving rave reviews from everyone I knew, including many fellow booksellers. Luckily our adult book club chose it as their book for December which meant I had to read it, therefore, discovering a new author to love!

This book is a wonderful murder mystery and its setting in a remote Scottish wilderness was very appealing to me given where I grew up and now live. The description of the environment, from the deading silence of the trees to the grey skies, was not only accurate but also beautiful.

The characters in this book were well written and while I felt a couple of them to be pointless, I think they were necessary to highlight how awful some of the others were.

The ending to the book was fantastic and came at me out of nowhere. I read this book in one day, not because it is some sort of easy read, but because I literally couldn't put it down! Thank goodness it's the Christmas break so I could get away with taking a day for reading. I can't wait to read Lucy Foley's next offering.

A brilliant debut novel which gripped me from the beginning to the end! A wealthy group of university friends head off to a remote Scottish estate to celebrate the New Year. Emma, a recent newcomer to the group as Mark’s girlfriend organised the venue and the food and is keen to make it a success, but underneath there are jealousies and hidden secrets and after the New Year Party one of the group is found dead and who it is is not revealed until near the end. Add to that the Estate is remote and two full time staff who have also mystery about them. At this point the blizzard blows in bringing isolation as well. Cleverly the author switches the narrative between the eleven characters to bring it to a shattering end. Something that needs to be read at one sitting with the lights on!

There is so much in The Hunting Party to compel me to keep reading that it is difficult to know where I should start with this review. The setting of the novel is a remote part of the Highlands where the snowfall is so heavy that even emergency services are unable to reach it. Personally, I feel quite vulnerable in the face of isolation so the atmosphere this created for me was brilliant. 

Foley writes her characters amazingly, and it is here where The Hunting Party shines best. I didn't like any of the characters - they all come across as very selfish, arrogant and entitled - but this makes it even better. It's difficult to pin down who the murderer is because they all have secrets and grudges with one another. Even those who work at The Lodge are not above suspicion. The effect of this is enhanced by the narration of the chapters, which switches between the main characters and allows the reader to see what has happened from every point of view. It gives us further insight into their lives and the events that led to this point. 

The tension throughout The Hunting Party is unbelievable and there are so many twists and turns. I genuinely did not want to put the book down.