This book is told from various different points of view moving between friends who have all gathered together for a new years eve party at a remote Hunting Lodge in Scotland. Most of them know each other from their university days and have years worth of history and stories to share. As we move from character to character they each tell their own memories of how they met each other and the experiences they have shared.

Two characters who also feature in the story are Doug and Heather, who work at the Hunting Lodge and are on hand to help the guests. These are not incidental characters, and like the guests, have dark hidden secrets themselves that they would rather remain hidden. Heathers narrative is told in the present tense after the murder has happened, whereas everyone else’s narrative in the story is told in the days leading up to the event.

The interesting thing about this story is that not only do we not know who the murderer is, but we also don’t even find out until quite near the end who has actually even been killed. This added even more suspense to an already tense read as you know there are two big reveals coming at some point.

What I enjoyed most about this book is the character development of each individual character throughout the book. Each one starts, innocently so, as just a friend, catching up with other friends and looking to have a good time. But as the plot moves on we begin to see beneath the facade that they each show to others. Although there are quite a few different characters in this book they all have a part to play. How the author has woven all their stories together to give us the finish product is really well done.

I had desperately been reading trying to piece together parts of the story trying to work out which guest was going to meet an unfortunate end and which character had the motive and opportunity to do so. However, I can honestly say I did not see the big twist coming in this book.

I loved this book for so many reasons, the writing, the plot, the setting, the fact I was kept guessing right up until the end. I think anyone who likes a book that keeps them on their toes and guessing right up until the end will enjoy this too. I throughly recommend.

I really enjoyed this. The multiple point-of-view style was hard to get into at first, and I had to keep flicking back to see who was telling the story, but once I got used to it, I found the style very effective. I liked not knowing who had been killed (as well as who the killer was) until the very end. The setting was atmospheric, there were enough clues scattered about to keep my suspicions switching between all the characters, and the ending itself was very satisfying. One of my favourite books of the year so far.

A cast of unlikable characters marooned in a remote location by snow, what could possibly go wrong ?
Plenty of red herrings, twists and turns to keep you guessing. An atmospheric and well written read.

For me this book is both a hit and a miss. Essentially you know that someone has died / been killed from about 3 chapters in. The thrill - if it is truly there is in deciding which of the characters have been involved. The narrative swings between the here and now (from the death onwards) and 3 days ago (before the death). Essentially it is an unravelling of the history of the people involved. All seem to have something to hide, all seem to have culpability of a sort. The biggest secret is the identity of the victim.

For me this is what the author does most successfully it could be any of the guests, the possibilities are reduced as the narrative progresses but it really is only towards the end that the picture becomes clear.

Less winning is the characterisation - there are two groups the Oxford coterie are carved from the same stones, self opinionated, self-interested, too much money and no real common sense and the staff are a second band of staff all have deep dark secrets.

I liked it but didn't love it

A Whodunnit, with the added intrigue of who has actually been murdered. A group of thirty something Londoners head North to a remote area in Scotland for New Year celebrations and become trapped by heavy snowfall. It was a story with plenty of intrigue but I couldn't really warm to any of the characters, who seemed a self centred lot. I also wasn't keen on the fact that the identity of the victim wasn't revealed until close to the end of the book. A decent read but not entirely my cup of tea.

To celebrate New Years Eve a few days getaway to the remote scottish highlands is arranged by a group of old university friends.
Being thrown together after a long time apart it seems the bond of friendship is nowhere near as strong as they had all believed.
Old resentments and grudges from the past resurface and when they find themselves cut off from the outside due to heavy snows the celebrations turn sour as secrets and lies are revealed.
A body is discovered by the groundsman.
Gradually the identity is revealed, suspects abound. It seems anyone of the guests could be the killer.
The suspense builds nicely and kept me guessing all the way through.
A host of interesting if not likeable characters populate this story and anyone of them seems capable of murder.
Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins for the chance to read this as an ARC.

I loved this twisty tale and couldn't put it down. Loved the setting and atmosphere. It kept me guessing to the end. I would highly recommend it to folks who like this type of mystery.

Full of secrets and intrigue this was right up my street! A classic whodunnit I was hooked from the first paragraph! Loved reading from all of the characters perspectives too.

This book!!! As soon as I finished it I messaged a friend to say "You have GOT to order this book NOW!" Isn't it wonderful when you read a book and know exactly who to recommend it to! If you love character driven, Agatha Christie-esque mysteries set in atmospheric, eerie locations then The Hunting Party is going to knock your socks off. It reminded me in a way of Ruth Wares debut "In A Dark Dark Wood" but with more champagne and drugs! When you throw together a cast of unlikeable people like this bunch then sparks are guaranteed to fly but when a body is discovered it's a shock that nobody is expecting. You must put aside a few hours to read this because once you join The Hunting Party you won't be leaving until after the kill!
As with all the best psychological thrillers, there is a slow build up whilst we are introduced to this rather unappealing and self absorbed group of university friends as they make their way to Scotland to celebrate New Year together. It takes a while to work out their connections to each other (Mark and Nick I got confused with to begin with but that's probably just me!) but once they were settled into their isolated cabins at the lodge where they were staying, it was much easier to recognise the different personalities. Miranda was a particularly unlikeable member of the group and I found her attitude towards her oldest friends completely baffling!
Told by multiple POVs and in different timelines it isn't until quite near the end that we find out who has been murdered, why and by whom. But I have to say that the twists and turns really did pull me in so many different directions that, although I thought I knew what was happening and why, I was much further off the mark than I usually am! And that's another reason why I absolutely loved this book! It's a fascinating look at how the toxic relationships we make can't be easily escaped as they become a habit that's much too hard to break. But the breakup here is VERY extreme indeed!
If you're after a gripping, character based and darkly atmospheric storyline then The Hunting Party is a must for your TBR pile. This one is going to be HUGE!
Highly recommended by me!

I enjoyed this book it was a bit different to anything I have read recently.I did struggle to cope with all the characters in the beginning but once I had them sorted in my mind I got into the story, I thought the atmosphere of the place was perfectly captured,and the pace of the book was good.I did work out who the victim was but had no idea who the killer was,and the other subplots were interesting too.There was plenty going on,and this was an entertaining and well written book.I enjoyed it.thanks to the publishers and netgalley for an ARC.

Neatly done, somewhat quaint whodunit. Engagingly old fashioned this substitutes a hunting lodge in the wilds of Scotland for the more traditional English country house but it is firmly within that genre.

Nine old friends book said lodge for the New Year celebrations and predictably are snowed in with only a housekeeper and a gamekeeper (really) in the near vicinity. Of course as the booze and drug intake increases secrets are revealed and somebody is murdered. The twist is that the victim and the perpetrator are not revealed
until the final part of the book.

Cleverly done with all the usual diversions and red herrings associated with this type of story - well worth a read.

15% in and I got bored let's get back to whose body it is, I'm not keen on books that have chapters from all the different characters view points. This one does not move quick enough for me.

Thirteen people, 1 dead body

3.5 stars for the thriller debut Hunting Party by Lucy Foley.

A group of friends who met at Oxford a decade ago decides to celebrate NYE in a remote location in the Scottish Highlands. Due to the heavy snow they find themselves cut off from civilisation. We quickly learn that the friendship bond between some of them is not as strong as it seemed and actually there is a degree of animosity and resentment among them as old wounds and grudges from their past resurface. I started to wonder why would anyone want do an annual trip with people they didn't like?

"But that's the thing about old friends, isn't it? Sometimes they don't even realise that they no longer have anything in common. That maybe they don't even like each other any more."

Initially, it took me some time to get into this and get a grip on who was who, but once I got there, I enjoyed the book. Each chapter is told from a different POV - Emma, Katie, Miranda, Heather and Doug with the timeline jumping from 'Before the murder' and 'After'. It is not clear who has been murdered and who the murderer is until relatively late in the story which is not a bad thing. I thought I knew where the book was going and who the culprit was, but I was completely wrong. I did not see the twist coming at all.

The synopsis mentions Agatha Christie. I love Christie's books dearly and would like to clarify that apart from the obvious setting resemblence to the Mousetrap, this is quite a different type of novel. Still a good one, just different.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It felt like ploughing through treacle to get to the end of this book. I wasn’t keen on any of the characters nor was I interested in their New Years histories.
Not for me I’m afraid.

Excellent thriller, almost Agatha Christie like in style, but with a more modern twist.

The setting is very atmospheric and the backgrounds and personalities of the characters are well drawn. Difficult to find much empathy for any of the travelling party. I did though find myself rooting for Doug and Heather, the staff members who are fighting their own demons whilst having to cope with the demanding and dislikeable group of customers.

An excellent read that pulled me in.

Thank you to the author, Harper Collins and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

What a terrible bunch of people (for the most part) and what fun reading their car crash of a new years getaway: with their terrible secrets and murderous tendencies! The novel is dual time perspective, though not difficult to follow, which lends a constant buzz of "what's round the corner?" and there were a few times I was properly creeped out. Overall, a fiendish thriller, in a remote location, with characters you'll love to hate but be desperate to follow.

I got about a quarter of the way through this book before realising that I couldn’t stand a single character, nor did I care for the events and skimmed my way to the end.

Honestly I think I identified more with Emma, than any of the other stuck up and cruel characters. I think I’ve been her - to a lesser degree - I’ve never killed anybody. But then I grew up and realised that friends who make you feel like crap - aren’t friends.

Sorry but I really struggled to get into this book. The writing didn’t grab me, and my apathy towards the whole thing has led me to discontinue reading it. Apologies but this one was not for me.

Thank you to Lucy Foley, HarperCollins UK, and NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

If you love intriguing crime stories with plenty of unexpected twists and turns and a captivating, storyline that will have you burning the midnight oil to find out more, then this is for you. I absolutely loved it. The chilly Highland scenery, the friends with hidden secrets, the well developed, dark and mysterious characters and the beautiful, seamless way in which it is written.

Although the crime takes place early on, the gradual unravelling helps maintain a high level of suspense until the end. We are kept in the dark for quite some time about the gender, never mind identity of the victim. Suspicion gets thrown on one person after another. Definitely shades of Agatha Christie here.

It makes these friends question just how well they really know those who have been a large part of their lives since university. Because people are rarely what they seem on the surface. At least not here. Despite their preordained roles and seemingly fixed characters in times past.

A lot of tension sits close to the surface, as they gather at a Hunting Lodge for a New Year celebration and assume an air of jollity that doesn’t always ring true. Old rivalries and injured feelings, resentment and jealousy make this a less than joyful gathering, especially with a murder thrown into the mix.

Grudges have a way of coming out, as a snow blizzard temporarily encloses the guests from the world and creates an atmosphere of its own. Those who run the Lodge are also keeping secrets at bay. Ones that threaten to derail them just as much as the crime itself. A gripping, unpredictable and unputdownable read, revealing much about the vagaries of human nature and the horrors it can elicit.

What a fabulous page-turner!

I was already hooked once I had read the description of the book: a group of nine friends go to the Scottish Highlands for a New Years Eve celebration at a luxury lodge...but one isn't going home with them. The freezing and isolated conditions set a brilliant backdrop for this thriller.

Told in two time periods - the present in which we are told a guest has died and a period from two days prior, so we get to know the dynamic of the group. But which guests has died and who did the deed and why? Cleverly written, the reader must work everything out ahead of the reveal. The twists and turns were great in that they were possible to work out but weren't obvious.

Once I'd started this, I couldn't stop so make sure you have time to read it! The one downside is that it's not being released before Christmas/NYE so I can't give this as a gift. It would work so well!

Highly recommended.

Many thanks to NetGalley, HarperCollins UK Harper Fiction and Lucy Foley for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A group of friends decide to meet up and let the New year in together in a remote part of Scotland. What they didn't expect was for someone to get murdered while they were there.

You know from the beginning that a guest has gone missing but you don't learn until the end who it is and why.they were killed.
After reading the blurb of this book I was so looking forward to it. I love a gripping thriller with twists and turns but I'm afraid for me, it just didn't cut it. I really struggled to continue reading it. I'm sure there will be many who will enjoy it, just not me, which is why I can only give it three stars. This is my honest and unbiased review. My grateful thanks to NetGalley for my copy