The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley

I sometimes I think groups of friends, especially ones who have known each other for many years, believe they have to uphold the pretence of staying friends even when they grow apart. Then you are forced to spend time pretending you are actually interested in their lives, when the reality is you couldn't give two hoots.

That is exactly the way this group of friends appears to the reader. Meeting in an isolated place to celebrate themselves and their friendships. To try and impress each other with their success and relationships. By the way, who brings a young baby to the middle of nowhere in the midst of snow storms and freezing conditions?

What starts as pleasant idea to celebrate and welcome the New Year in, quickly becomes a nightmare. The beauty of the isolation and the surroundings becomes threatening and suffocating when one of the party goes missing. Everyone starts to look suspicious and menacing, and for the veteran Doug in particular it means having a spotlight on you at all times.

Even if the actual victim perhaps isn't clear at first then a potential victim does become clear quite early on. A certain person likes to wind everyone up and poke sharp sticks straight into the bears cage. After a short while everyone appears to have a valid motive to harm someone, just because they are so privileged and annoying. Yeh, being annoying has just been upgraded to a murder motive.

Foley more or less hands the plot to the reader within the first few chapters and then starts to throw spanners into the spinning wheel. It's an intriguing way to go about it. You think you know it all, but in fact you only know what the author wants you to know.

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Publisher: HarperCollins (Kindle pub date 3 Dec 2018, Hardcover pub date 24 Jan 2018)
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