Sunday, April 5, 2020

Book Review: The Hunting Party

What a weekend you guys. The best part of the weekend though was getting through a few books so stay tuned for some good reviews!
The Hunting Party - Lucy Foley

All of them are friends. One of them is a killer.

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.

They arrive on December 30th, just before a historic blizzard seals the lodge off from the outside world.

Two days later, on New Year’s Day, one of them is dead.

The trip began 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.

Now one of them is dead . . . and another of them did it.

Keep your friends close, the old adage goes. But just how close is too close?

Are you in the market for a whodunnit? Are you in the mood for a book with a ton of characters that you don't like but we've got a dead body here and someone did it, but who?

I have to tell you right off that there are almost two many characters and none of them are likable and they all have a motive. Easily the biggest challenge for me was the amount of characters there were but also the flip flopping between past and present. I struggle with that and that's fully on me, so don't let that sway you from this book!

My other complaint? I absolutely saw the ending coming and that was a bit of a let down for me. The saving grace easily was the story to the end though because the weaving in and out between characters and time that makes it worth it. I don't think the ending is the key part of this book, its the story around it and that's what will keep you turning. Also? Not only are we trying to figure out who committed the murder, but we also don't know who the person is that died.

The best part is that the remote location makes it a little more creepy and reminded me of a few other books from Dean Koontz and Mary Higgins Clark that I've read. Somehow, winter is the best time of year to read a whodunnit and having dead bodies just hanging around.

Overall? I'd give this one a solid 3 stars.

    
Thank you to William Morrow and TLC Book Tours for having me on this tour! I received a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. This post contains affiliate links. 

1 comment:

Shooting Stars Mag said...

Aw, sorry the end was a bit predictable. That can be a bummer. I am curious about this one. I have The Guest List from Book of the Month though, so I hope to read that soon.

-Lauren
www.shootingstarsmag.net