The Hunting Party

Last night I stood up late reading the first book from Lucy Foley called, “The Hunting Party.” Last Saturday I picked up “The Hunting Party,” from the library and when I got home I immediately started it and the story just grabbed me and pulled me in. The book is about a group friends in their thirty’s vacationing in the Scottish Higlands to celebrate the New Year. Unfortunately not everyone is having a good time. The vacation turns worse when one of the friends end up dead and one of the other friends is a murderer. Not to mention they are being snowed in at the estate.

Pros

I love that the setting takes place in the Scottish Highlands during a snow storm. The book gives a nod to Agatha Christie with the group of friends stranded somewhere and one of the friends being a killer. Some of the characters are likeable. My favorite characters are Doug the game keeper who has a mysterious past, Heather who runs the estate, and Katie who feels she is second fiddle to her friend Miranda.  

Cons

I will say although I did enjoy the book, it can come confusing when some chapters go from the day of the murder, to two days before or a day before. Some readers who don’t have the patience for that type of stuff, might have a hard time getting through the book. I’m one of the ones where I prefer it didn’t do that too much, but I understand Lucy Foley wanted to set up all the events that led up to the eventual murder. I also had so many scenarios as to who gets murdered and who is the murderer, including the two characters who actually were the killer and the victim. While it might be a little predictable, and most of the characters other than my favorites weren’t likeable, I did enjoy the story and I did like the fact that the motive for the killing wasn’t predictable.

Overall

Overall I enjoyed the novel. I will definitely read more of her novels. “The Guest List,” is already out and whenever I get to the library or the bookstore it’s one of the first books I will pick up and devour. If there’s one genre I love it is mysteries.