Our book group choice for January 2020 is The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley. During the languid days of the Christmas break, a group of thirtysomething friends from Oxford meet to welcome in the New Year together, a tradition they began as students ten years ago.
The Hunting Party is a 2019 mystery novel by Lucy Foley. The story follows a group of nine friends who go on a New Year’s Eve trip to a remote lodge in the Scottish Highlands. When one of the friends is found murdered, the others must figure out who did it before they become the next victim.
The novel is told from multiple perspectives, which allows the reader to get to know each of the characters and their secrets. The setting of the remote lodge also adds to the suspense, as the friends are trapped with each other and the killer.
The Hunting Party has been praised for its fast-paced plot, its well-developed characters, and its atmospheric setting. The novel has been compared to other mystery classics, such as Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None.
The novel begins with a group of nine friends arriving at Loch Corrin, a wilderness resort in the Scottish Highlands. The friends have been meeting up for New Year’s Eve for the past decade, but this year, the tension is high. Miranda, the most popular and beautiful of the group, is married to Julien, who is having an affair with Emma, Mark’s girlfriend. Samira and Giles are married with a new baby, Priya. Nick is closer to Katie than anyone else in the group, and he is attending with his boyfriend, Bo.
The friends spend the first day of their trip skiing, drinking, and playing games. However, the atmosphere is tense, and the friends start to argue. On New Year’s Eve, they go out to a party in the village, but they return to the lodge early.
The novel is told from the perspectives of the nine friends, as well as the lodge manager, Heather, and the gamekeeper, Doug. This allows the reader to get to know each of the characters and their secrets. The reader also learns about the history of the lodge, which is rumored to be haunted.
The setting of the remote lodge also adds to the suspense. The friends are trapped with each other and the killer, and they have no way to contact the outside world. The weather is also bad, with a snowstorm raging outside.
Discussion Questions for The Hunting Party
- What did you think of the book? How long did it take you to read?
- The book was chosen for its cold and snowy theme – were the scenes well described, did the atmosphere come across in the reading?
- Discussion of the book as an example of the Mystery/Crime/Suspense genre
- Isolated location
- Complicated back stories and Stereotyped characters
- Red herrings – poachers, highland ripper
- Were the ‘hidden clues’ scattered effectively?
- Do you think the twists and turns of the plot enhanced the storyline?
- Was the ending satisfying? Is tying up all the loose ends necessary for this genre?
- Do you need privileged characters and a luxury setting for this type of book?
- When did you guess who the victim was? And when the murderer?
- What did you think about the author keeping the victim’s identity a secret as well as the murderers??
- Why do you think these specific narrators were selected (4 women, 1 man). All characters were in the 1st person except Doug – any thoughts?
- What did you think of the characters?
- Realistic (fully developed and emotionally complex) or flat? Is being one-dimensional a by-product of this genre?
- Good / Bad people. Role of tragedy in back stories.
- Comparisons with Normal People – life before/at/after university. How did the book portray the evolution of personalities pre and post university?
Individual Ratings
Anthony's Rating 
Sue's Rating
EmmaT's Rating
Willow's Rating
Jo's Rating
DKB's Rating