“Some people, given just the right amount of pressure, taken out of their usual, comfortable environments, don’t need much encouragement at all to become monsters.”
We’ve never been much of a ‘whodunnit’ reader. Never personally had much of a disdain for them per se, but they were a bit like a cough drop to us – not offensive, but never found much need for them. But, having picked up and devoured Lucy Foley’s The Hunting Party, that might be about to change.
The Hunting Party is one of the most gripping and addictive titles we’ve read. With its atmospheric setting, a deep arsenal of characters and shocking revelations hiding behind every chapter, it’s no wonder Lucy Foley has become one of the crime fiction world’s most acclaimed authors. Read on for our full The Hunting Party book review at What We Reading.
Date Published: 2019
Author: Lucy Foley
Genre: Mystery / Thriller
Pages: 406
GoodReads Rating: 3.65/5
Premise
The Hunting Party is a classic whodunnit tale following nine university friends reuniting for a weekend away in a first-class retreat in the Scottish Highlands. The story is largely told through the perspectives of three of those friends: Emma, Jules and Katie, with two of the estate’s workers, Heather and Doug, also having their own parts.
Off the bat, The Hunting Party differs from other whodunnits we’ve seen by dedicating a large portion of the book to the 24 hours or so before one of the friends is killed. Foley switches between times with each chapter, with the three friends, usually recounting the events that happened during the night of the crime, and the two reserve workers running through the events happening ‘now’.
In fact, it’s become part of the Lucy Foley special, with the British author also making use of multiple perspectives in her 2020 book The Guest List and 2022 book The Paris Apartment.
We give way to any genre experts to say this format isn’t nearly as quirky as we’re making it out to be, but it worked really well as a way of fleshing out the characters and their relationships, as well as sprinkling in another layer of mystery for readers to grapple with.
What Worked
As mentioned, the number one goal of a whodunnit is to create a sense of mystery and cast suspicion on as many of the potential suspects as possible. Foley does this and then some in The Hunting Party, but also introduces a new dynamic with not even the identity of the victim being revealed until the finale.
Reading through, our suspicions fell on most of the guests at one point or another, though we didn’t ever land on the eventual culprit once, so job done there I suppose? Rather than being a reader obsessed with uncovering the truth and guessing every reveal, we like to just go with the flow and have things told to me as they happen.
The way in which Foley neatly wraps everything together in The Hunting Party is an absolute pleasure to read, never once feeling like it’s being made up as she goes along.
Just like Allie Reynolds’ Shiver, The Hunting Party is also the first book we’ve read where every character is well-balanced and fairly likeable. There are enough characteristics shown to give each member of the story their own identity, and the different dynamics they have with each other help sell the suspense present throughout.
There are some seriously toxic friendships lurking beneath the surface of this party, and Foley does a stellar job of letting them gradually rise to the surface.
The setting also serves as a character in itself. A luxurious camping retreat in the Scottish Highlands sounds like the perfect background for a crime thriller, but what makes Foley’s setting so unique is how it captures the isolation with the party and plays with it to amp up the stakes.
What Didn’t
For the most part, The Hunting Party is a wonderfully-paced novel, however, its climax and ending did leave us feeling slightly less than fulfilled.
(Warning: Spoilers ahead!)
Whilst the reveal of the culprit was delivered well and their backstory as to how they ended up with the group was nicely done, there was very little in terms of explaining what happened to everyone after the trip.
Not only would it have been good to get a little check-in with some of the characters to see how the events of the book have shaped them, but having more focus on the culprit besides: ‘it’s me, and here’s why’ would have gone a long way in rounding out The Hunting Party a bit more strongly. Obviously, the magic of the suspense comes from focusing on the party and the escalating tensions, but we want to see this murderer face the firm fist of justice.
There are also a few strange moments thrown up in the novel that don’t actually add a whole lot of proceedings. The first of these is the wild Swedish couple that is also present at the retreat, and the reveal that one of the workers is helping the owner to double the reserve up as a drug den also just sort of comes out of nowhere.
Verdict
Overall, this is easily one of the best books from 2022 we’ve read this year. The suspense, the atmosphere, the characters and their dynamics all set the stage wonderfully, and Foley is superb at littering a revolving door’s worth of secrets across every page, without it ever feeling forced.
It is an incredibly enthralling read that any fiction fan is sure to have a hard time putting down. The tension is palpable throughout, and resolved satisfyingly, even though we felt there was room to stretch things out a little bit longer.
Either way, crime thriller fan or not, this is one of the best examples of a true page-turner in action. For newcomers as well as veteran pros in the genre, Foley is fast becoming the leading light in the crime thriller world, and The Hunting Party remains one of her finest works.
Our Rating: 4.5/5
Views From Around The Reading World
“The Hunting Party 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.”
Quote supplied by Jathan and Heather from jathanandheather.com
“What Worked For Me: I like that the isolated setting feels Gothic in a way that is unique and interesting. I also liked that we got to get into the heads of a number of very different women and that, at least for the narrator characters, Foley tries to bring out complexities and nuance, even when they are doing pretty nasty things. And the mystery is paced in a way that builds suspense slowly until it’s very taut.
What Didn’t Work For Me: While I liked the perspective characters and thought they were all interesting, I did think that a few of the other characters were pretty two-dimensional. And some of the red herrings were a bit heavy-handed or obviously red herrings, at least for me.”
Quote supplied by Kate from The Library Ladies
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
