The Hunting Party: A Novel

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“My favorite kind of whodunit, kept me guessing all the way through, and reminiscent of Agatha Christie at her best -- with an extra dose of acid.” -- Alex Michaelides, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Silent Patient

From the author of the Reese Witherspoon book club pick The Guest List

Everyone's invited...everyone's a suspect...

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?

DON'T BE LEFT OUT. JOIN THE PARTY NOW.

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Published Mar 3, 2020

343 pages

Average rating: 6.59

849 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

thenextgoodbook
Sep 04, 2025
8/10 stars
thenextgoodbook.com
The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley
352 pages

What’s it about?
Nine former college friends make a point to have an annual reunion on New Year's Eve every year. This year they choose get together at a small, remote Scottish hunting lodge. During their stay one of the people at the lodge goes missing. The story centers around a cast of characters that all may be harboring their own secrets....

What did it make me think about?
This was just a really good page turner.

Should I read it?
For anyone who is looking for a book that will suspend any thoughts but "What is going to happen next?"- this book is for you!

Quote-
"But I was struck by the thought that they did not seem completely comfortable in one another's company. Which was odd, as they'd told me right at the beginning that they were very old friends. But that's the thing about old friends, isn't it? Sometimes they don't even realize that they no longer have anything in common."

If you liked this try-
The Life We Bury by Allen Eskins
The Boy in the Field by Margot Livesey
My Sunshine Away by M.O. Walsh
The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld
K Olson
Jan 14, 2025
6/10 stars
Entertaining read but not as good as The Guest List in my opinion. I really enjoyed the setting which really plays into the storyline. I thought the ending was a bit rushed.
Mary Raven
Jan 28, 2023
8/10 stars
Lots of red herrings and interesting backstorys
tarabhandari
Sep 10, 2025
8/10 stars
I really liked the book but at points I found that there were so many characters or parts of the book that did not need to be there. Also the ‘who done it’ aspect was a little too obvious for my taste. I found the actual writing very well done and I was definitely engaged in the book the whole time!
chaneil.reads
Jun 04, 2025
7/10 stars
Kept me interested, however it lacks the surprising twists that really gets avid mystery readers going. Foley holds her own in the saturated 'isolated murder' theme as she explored the inner monologues and group dynamics of these Oxford graduates. Furthermore, this read may be great for novice readers to understand shifts in perspective & clue identification without getting too confused

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