"The Hunting Party" by Lucy Foley
Above: "The Hunting Party." Lucy Foley - 406 pages. I completed reading the above book today.
Outwardly, what might seem a strongly bonded relationship between two good friends, on another level, can be seen to be a bitter mutual resentment.
After reading Lucy Foley's "The Guest List" a couple of months ago, I knew I had to read another of this author's astounding who-done-its. TIMDT, whose taste in literature tends towards British, Booker Prize type authors, put me on to this author in the first place.
Here's a short excerpt from Amazon.com's promotional blurb:
"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. For this vacation, they’ve chosen an idyllic and isolated estate in the Scottish Highlands—the perfect place to get away and unwind by themselves.
The trip begins innocently enough: admiring the stunning if foreboding scenery, champagne in front of a crackling fire, and reminiscences about the past. But after a decade, the weight of secret resentments has grown too heavy for the group’s tenuous nostalgia to bear. Amid the boisterous revelry of New Year’s Eve, the cord holding them together snaps, just as a historic blizzard seals the lodge off from the outside world.
Two days later, on New Year’s Day, one of them is dead. . . and another of them did it.
Keep your friends close, the old adage says. But how close is too close?"
Who did do it?
Oxford friends, at a remote Scottish lodge, ten years after graduation:
Miranda (Manda to those closest to her). Outwardly self confident, smart, beautiful, center of any social gathering, chic in tastes. Marries Julien. Has had an unknown stalker for years, who she has sloughed off as a minor irritation.
Julien. London City market player, fast and easy with insider trading rules, keeps more than one important secret from his wife, Manda.
Emma. Dowdy (at least self perceived), brilliant, but touched (?) wall flower who, adopting Miranda's style and dress, marries Mark, a player in the Oxford friends circle. She is organizer of this New Year's Eve event at the obscure Scottish lodge.
Mark. Hot headed member of Oxford friends circle. Knows of Julien's secret (secrets?) and is angry about Julien's deceiving of Miranda. Married to Emma.
Kate. London attorney. Best friend to Miranda... with a dark secret that, revealed, would upend her relationship with her best friend.
Samira. The only mom in the group.
Giles. Samira's husband
Nick: The gay friend from Oxford
Bo: Nick's American boy friend
Heather: Lodge manager. Why has this attractive, competent, outgoing person taken a job in the obscure Scottish highlands?
Doug: Lodge/property care taker, game manager. There are some seeming sinister reasons why Doug has isolated himself at this obscure resort. But, what's the real story?
Adrian: Lodge owner employee who left the property as the "hunting party" arrived.... but, did he really leave?
Iceland Visitors: Two haughty, back packing Icelanders, man and woman. Heather told Emma, who organized the event, and who was upset by the arrival of the Icelanders, that the Oxford party would be alone at the lodge.
Each chapter is written as a first person account of one of the characters. The narrative is not sequential. The reader is first given a piece from, say, day three of the visit. Then, the next character might recount his/her narrative two days before that. In each narrative are clues to the denouement of a murder that happened during the stay of the "good friends."
The author is a master in character development as she explores the contradictions between the facades and the depths of her characters' personas. Outwardly, what might seem a strongly bonded relationship between two good friends, on another level, can be seen to be a bitter mutual resentment.
As she adeptly explores complex character relationships, Lucy Foley shows herself to be a writer of great insight into people and their multifaceted personalities.
The effect is "page turner." The reader is easily lulled into the next chapter/installment as the mystery unfolds.
"The Hunting Party" is good escape and food for the brain as the pieces of the puzzle become clear. Its a good book to "read" on tape with a wife, friend, or partner as it spurs regular discussions about "who-done-it."
Note: Includes adult situations.