Title: The Hunting Party
Author(s) Name(s): Lucy Foley
Published in: December, 2018
Why You Might Like This Book: Read this book if you enjoy
- friends’ reunion,
- multiple points of view,
- whodunit mysteries, and
- crime fiction.
Who Should Avoid This Book: Avoid this book if you are triggered by or dislike
- murder,
- friendships gone wrong,
- friendship drama,
- loss of a friend, or
- interpersonal drama.
Set in an isolated location, this tense psychological thriller revolves around a close-knit group whose shared past begins to crack under pressure. Atmosphere and suspense build steadily as secrets simmer beneath the surface. This is not a new book by any chance, not very old either, it was published in the year 2018, but my sister told me that she had read this one, that I might like it, so I borrowed this from her.
The plot is about a group of Londoners who have been close friends since their university days at Oxford and one new addition to the group, a partner of one of these friends, who admires the group and tries hard to fit in. They all go out to a place far away, a Scottish lodge, for their new year vacation this year, a place so remote and cold that they barely see other humans there. The stay that was booked is sophisticated and most of the group seem to quickly adapt to the residence despite the isolated location and th bad weather conditions. There are a few staff members in charge of taking care of the place and its guests and to do all the odd jobs. There is also, unexpectedly, another couple, two other guests. These are all the people in that entire area, as far as eyes could see.
And it’s snowing hard, more than what any of them were ready for. But they don’t seem to mind because they all, well, at least most of them are happy to have come here because this is an opportunity for them to meet their old friends, like they do every once in a year, during their new year vacation. It’s been so many years since their university days, life happens, and now everyone is in their thirties, they all seem to have changed in different ways.
The author Lucy does a good job of building up the atmosphere as she describes the personalities of each one of them, the friends and the two staff members in charge of most of the work there, in detail, through their own eyes and through the eyes of others, in about a dozen chapters or more. We get to learn what their younger selves were like and what they have become now. Each has a unique personality, and almost everyone there has something they try to hide or some past or present secret or feelings they do not wish to share with anyone else, as they all pretend that everything is fine. Not all secrets are alarming, some are just about how (not good) they feel about themselves compared to others, and some other secrets could be more sinister. For nearly all of the first half of the book, it’s just a way of familiarizing us, the readers, with the different characters and their feelings towards themselves and others. And it does not get boring at any point, as the author knows how to weave different points together to keep us curious about what is coming next.
In the middle of all this, as told on the blurb of the book, there is a death, a dead body is discovered by one of these people. It is clear that the death was not an accident, even though that could have been highly likely this time of the year in such a place, but still, there are instant giveaways that show that it was a murder. It is smart on the author’s part to introduce the murder and give us some glimpses here and there in the middle of different characters narrating their views and feelings in several chapters, so the reader is already hooked to the idea of the murder but we don’t know enough yet, not in the first half, as we continue to learn more about the characters and what they hide. Lucy’s writing is brilliant in unfolding the murder layer by layer, as we don’t even know who the dead person is, even after we go through a conversation or an entire chapter of registering an official complaint with the police on account of the murder.
There is a rich couple, two folks who simply look stylish and cool everywhere they go, all the time, two of them have a baby now, two gay guys are in a homosexual relationship, there is an odd couple, and there is a lady who is the only single person in their friends’ group. Some are having problems in their relationships, some have crushes on others, some have problems at work or in their career, their lives have changed a lot. And then there is the well-built gamekeeper who is a loner and the lady who is kind of the manager here, who manages customers’ needs and ensures that they are happy, and these two have their own dark past, too. There is that other couple nobody knows anything about either, except when they all shared dinner on the day of arrival. And now, there is a murder. The story goes back and forth between different days, narrating events through the perspectives of many people.
The second half, however, is a different story. It’s the same style of narration, moving back and forth between the past and the present, narrated by the same voices, and then the reader might start getting bored. What started off as Agatha-Christie-like might get plain boring for some. The only thrilling moment is that a death had happened and a body was discovered. Apart from that, it’s just interpersonal drama, and there is not even one other thrilling moment for most of the book, which is in strong contrast with books like The Silent Patient, where the second half is undeniably way more engaging than the first half. This could be a bore for readers who have a thirst for thrillers that really do give thrills. Some readers say that even the ultimate suspense reveal or the climax is not that good, which is understandable.
Engaging? Yes, the author’s writing style is good enough to keep the reader engaged for most of the book. But gripping? No, at least not for a thriller. Calling this book a “gripping thriller” would definitely be an exaggeration! If you’re not looking for anything deep (it’s a thriller story, not a philosopher’s autobiography, right?), if you are not looking for horrendous crime or something supernatural, and you can do with a fast-paced read which is mostly drama with a sprinkle of thrilling moments, then Lucy Foley’s The Hunting Party is one that you can finish pick in a few days. This is definitely worth a read after a long or boring week! I would give this a 3.5/5 rating at best. If a light thriller novel that is not intense in terms of action, violence, and psychological build-up is what you are looking for, a whodunit mystery novel with multiple possible suspects, then this could be a good read.
Also, bear in mind that many readers say that one or two other books by Lucy Foley, like The Guest List follow very similar plots, with a group of people stranded somewhere, a murder happens, and the rest is just similar. This should mean that if you read one of these, the others would be pretty similar, and would you really want that?
