The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley

While The Hunting Party takes a while to get going, Lucy Foley’s ability to blow plots out of the water is undeniable

Book Review by Kirstyn Smith | 01 Feb 2019
  • The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley
Book title: The Hunting Party
Author: Lucy Foley

It’s not an unfamiliar set-up: remote Scottish wilderness, a group of friends who all secretly despise each other, a mysterious gamekeeper, multiple murder attempts. And, for some time, Lucy Foley’s The Hunting Party does follow a cookie-cutter plot. A troupe of couples and one single friend meet up to ring in the new year, but old issues rise to the fore and practically everyone has a dark secret that’s hinted at, then frustratingly whisked away. None of the main group is particularly likeable and it can prove difficult to care about the poor little rich kids and their superficial issues.

A beautiful thing about Foley’s writing is her description of the wild scenery; it’s an intense, ponderous character in its own right. The night sky broods, the weather – vast expanses of unnavigable snow – is scheming and deliberate. And, in much the same way as the storm rapidly absorbs the Highland countryside, the final third of the book blossoms from pedestrian to utterly intriguing. A wheen of plotlines explode into being, most of them entirely unguessable.

While this nimbly transforms the book into a page-turner, the reader could use some firmer plot points earlier on. It’s the lurking of the storm that keeps the book engaging, and there are a few red herrings to boggle the brain. However, Foley’s ability to blow plots out of the water saves the day.


HarperCollins, out now, £12.99

https://www.harpercollins.co.uk/9780008297114/the-hunting-party/