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My Review:
In this atmospheric mystery, I wasn’t even entirely sure who had been murdered until the end, much less who did it. I feel like I should have guessed the culprit because the clues were all there but I didn’t.
The characters are largely unlikeable, even to each other. They’re that group of friends who really has grown apart and only remain friends because of their shared history. I’m a very character-driven reader so this turned me off a little but the mystery was so strong, I tried to overlook it.
The snowy setting and the isolation make this a perfect mystery for a winter’s day.
Synopsis from GoodReads:
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.
They arrive on December 30th, just before a historic blizzard seals the lodge off from the outside world.
Two days later, on New Year’s Day, one of them is dead.
The trip began 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.
Now one of them is dead . . . and another of them did it.
Keep your friends close, the old adage goes. But just how close is too close?
Similar Books:
If you liked The Hunting Party, you might also like my reviews of
- The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney
- The Zig Zag Girl by Elly Griffiths, read by James Langton
- Hard Rain by Irma Venter, translated by Elsa Silke
Purchase:
Buy The Hunting Party from Malaprop’s Bookstore in beautiful Asheville, NC or
2 Comments
I read and liked this one, but I agree that none of the characters is likable and that makes it more difficult to plow through.
It’s just so difficult for me to spend time with characters I dislike, even when everything else about a book suits my taste.