The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley is another locked room mystery in the style of Agatha Christie. However, in this case, the locked room is unintentional.
The Hunting Party
A group of old friends gathers at the remote Scottish estate on Loch Corrin to celebrate New Year’s. But things turn deadly when they are snowed in, cut off from the rest of civilization.
The Characters
The first thing I’ll note is that I was drawn to the characters of The Guest List more quickly than the characters of The Hunting Party. I’ve read many reviews where readers seem to favor the first Lucy Foley mystery book they read over the others, and I wonder if that’s the case here. Honestly, I felt the breadth of characters was greater in The Guest List and that made them more relatable.
However, after sitting with The Hunting Party for a while, I have a different sense of the characters. Their cold exteriors matched the snowstorm in which they were trapped.
I loved Heather and Doug, the caretakers of the Lodge, and I especially enjoyed how different they were than the guests. Their histories separated them from the cold exteriors of the guests, and it served to accentuate the harsh reality of the group of friends.
Watching the characters unfold on the page was honestly like looking at a painting and picking out the different layers of oil paints.
The Storm
Unlike The Guest List, The Hunting Party becomes a locked room mystery due to the weather. I sometimes wonder if the plot would have unfolded at all if the storm had not sprung up trapping them there. Although the killer did have reasons to carry out their revenge, but would it have gone like it did without the storm? I’m not sure.
The revenge plot here is deep and thick and dark. The Guest List was twisted and sad, but this was had much darker connotations. The killer’s reason for revenge made me uncomfortable, which is the mark of a great book, but some readers may be sensitive to this.
Who Should Read The Hunting Party
If you enjoy…
- Locked room mysteries
- Classic whodunits
- Weather-related survival stories
You’ll enjoy The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley.
Final Thoughts
I started reading this as an ebook and soon switched to the audiobook because of the wide cast of characters. I had mentioned this in my discussion of The Guest List, and it help true here as well. The performed audiobook was far easier to follow, and the talents were truly enjoyable.
