The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley Summary

The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley is a psychological thriller about nine Oxford friends who gather at a remote Scottish Highlands hunting lodge for their annual New Year's Eve celebration. When a massive snowstorm traps them at the isolated estate, one guest is found murdered. The narrative alternates between "before" and "now" timelines across multiple perspectives, slowly revealing secrets, resentments, and the killer's identity while tensions escalate among the privileged group.

The Hunting Party is ideal for mystery and thriller enthusiasts who enjoy atmospheric locked-room mysteries with multiple suspects. Readers who appreciate character-driven suspense, unreliable narrators, and stories featuring flawed, complex characters will find this engaging. If you enjoyed books like Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None or Lucy Foley's The Guest List, this wintry murder mystery with its remote Scottish setting and ensemble cast will appeal to you.

The Hunting Party offers an entertaining and gripping read with strong atmospheric tension and effective pacing through its dual timeline structure. Reviews are mixed but generally positive, with readers praising the suspenseful buildup and remote setting, though some found the ending predictable and certain sections dragged. It's described as an "unputdownable" fast read perfect for fans of locked-room mysteries, making it worth reading if you enjoy character-driven thrillers with ensemble casts.

Lucy Foley is a British author known for writing atmospheric psychological thrillers with ensemble casts and isolated settings. Beyond The Hunting Party, her notable works include The Guest List, The Paris Apartment, and The Midnight Feast. Foley excels at creating tension through multiple perspectives and time-shifting narratives, establishing herself as a master of the "locked-room" mystery subgenre with privileged, flawed characters harboring dangerous secrets.

The Hunting Party is set at Loch Corrin, a remote hunting lodge estate in the Scottish Highlands during New Year's Eve. The isolated wilderness location features dangerous winter conditions, freezing temperatures, and blizzards that trap the characters on the estate. The atmospheric setting includes the main lodge, abandoned buildings, a waterfall with a bridge, and surrounding rugged terrain that becomes impassable, creating the perfect locked-room scenario where emergency services cannot reach them.

The Hunting Party features nine Oxford friends: Emma (organizer, dating Mark), Miranda (popular golden girl), Julien (Miranda's husband), Katie (lawyer and Miranda's best friend), Nick and Bo (couple), Samira and Giles (new parents), and Mark. The lodge staff include Heather, a manager dealing with grief and alcoholism, and Doug, an ex-marine gamekeeper with PTSD. These diverse characters serve as both potential victims and suspects throughout the mystery.

Emma is revealed as Miranda's killer in The Hunting Party. Emma had been Miranda's secret stalker for years throughout university, stealing her belongings and sending threatening notes. When Miranda discovers evidence in Emma's room and confronts her outside by the waterfall bridge, calling her "weird," Emma strangles Miranda and pushes her off the bridge. Emma later attempts to kill Katie, blaming her for Miranda's death because Katie's affair with Julien upset Miranda.

The Hunting Party explores themes of toxic friendships, class privilege, and the facades people maintain within social groups. Secrets, resentment, and long-buried grudges among the entitled Oxford friends create underlying tension. The novel examines isolation—both physical isolation at the remote lodge and emotional isolation experienced by characters like Heather and Doug who escaped to the wilderness to deal with trauma. Obsession, jealousy, and the dangers of trying to belong are central themes.

Both The Hunting Party and The Guest List by Lucy Foley feature isolated settings, ensemble casts of privileged characters, and locked-room murder mysteries. Readers generally prefer The Guest List slightly more, though both employ similar narrative techniques with multiple POVs and dual timelines. The Hunting Party takes place in a Scottish Highlands lodge during winter, while The Guest List unfolds at an Irish island wedding. Both books hide the victim's identity initially, keeping readers guessing throughout.

Lucy Foley employs a multi-perspective narrative structure in The Hunting Party, alternating between different characters' viewpoints including Heather, Emma, Miranda, Katie, and Doug. The timeline shifts between "three days earlier" and the present when the body is discovered, building tension and slowly revealing information. This structure maximizes pacing and suspense, keeping readers engaged even during slower sections. Foley creates atmospheric tension through detailed environmental descriptions of the harsh Scottish Highland weather.

Common criticisms of The Hunting Party include a predictable or "lame" ending that disappointed some readers who correctly guessed the killer early. Some reviewers found certain sections dragged without adding value to the story, affecting the pacing despite a strong atmospheric setup. The characters, particularly the Oxford friends, are intentionally unlikeable and entitled, which bothered some readers though this was a deliberate choice. Several reviewers noted it wasn't as strong as The Guest List.

Multiple secrets emerge during The Hunting Party's New Year's Eve gathering:

• Miranda had outed Nick's sexuality to his parents years earlier
• Miranda and Julien are dealing with infertility and illegal insider trading
• Mark remains in love with Miranda
• Miranda previously slept with Samira's husband Giles
• Katie is pregnant with Julien's child after their affair

Emma's identity as Miranda's long-time stalker is the most shocking revelation. Additionally, lodge manager Iain is discovered using the estate for cocaine smuggling operations.