The Hunting Party: A Novel

Some moments were hard to follow. Character development made me not root for any of the characters, however, I did not see the end twist coming!

This is a thrilling account of a holiday vacation in the remote Scottish Highlands. Set on the banks of a loch over the NYE holiday we are a guest in the minds of a group of school (Oxford, not just any old school) friends. They've coupled up, mostly with each other, and a new face has bent over backwards to plan the perfect New Year celebration so that she will finally be accepted into this clique. Emma is sad but also obsessive you could say. She's the newest addition to the group and has planned this trip down to the food that they will eat each night. Mark, her SO, is Julien's best friend, his errand boy in school. He is also violent. He has repeatedly shown every member of this group how volatile he can be. Miranda is the golden girl, in every sense of the phrase. She was born with the silver spoon in her mouth and continues to live the same way through her adult life. She's also gorgeous and spoiled. Her husband Julien is the arrogant one, the handsome one, the one desperate to be liked by all. They're the golden couple, except for the fact that they also are a mess privately. Miranda is an a-hole and bully, even to her friends. Her own failed career and problems with fertility make her deeply insecure and are probably what makes her personality all the more venomous. Samira and Giles have just become new parents. Giles was the class clown in school and is now a doctor. They've brought their baby, Priya with them as well. These two, while an original part of the friend group seem to have moved on with their adult lives upon the birth of their daughter. Nick and Bo are mostly friends with Katie we are told, but seem to be very friendly and comfortable with the rest of the group too. Nick is part of the old Oxford friend group while Bo is his New Yorker boyfriend. Nick and Miranda have always butted heads, who doesn't with Miranda, but Nick doesn't let Miranda get away with things like the others. Katie is single on this trip. She's a lawyer and works a lot we learn. Her friend Miranda feels neglected because of it. Katie and Miranda have been friends since they were small girls, otherwise they probably wouldn't be friends now as they couldn't be more different from each other. Miranda always thinks about Katie like she's a mousey boring nerd who is lucky to be friends with her, but we find out that she doesn't know her friend as well as she thinks she does. The setting is a remote lodge on a loch staffed by only a few people. We are told that the privately owned property stretches for 50,000 acres. There are two other guests in attendance during their stay, an Icelandic couple who are quite odd in their behavior and make everyone suspicious. The staff includes Heather, Doug, and Iian. Heather is the manager and runs the lodge. She's running from some trauma that we don't fully understand until closer to the end. Doug is the games keeper and appears to also have a security type role at the lodge. He is a former marine and also appears to have gotten himself into some trouble. Iian is the guy who does random odd jobs for the boss. He lives off site, in the small town with his family, while Heather and Doug each occupy a cabin on the property. Each of these people have their own mysteries and quirky qualities. As we read, there are two timelines. One starts December 30th, when the guests arrive, and the second January 2nd when the body of a missing guest is found. We are led through the actions of the guests and staff up until the murder while also watching the manager Heather try to piece things together in the aftermath. I really liked this format because it kept me guessing several things. First, who tf was even dead. We got clues along the way but up until the end it could have been a few different people. Second, the circumstances of their death and unraveling the other actions and recollections of the characters. I guessed correctly a few times but wasn't able to piece everything together before the end. Which, imo, is the most important part of a thriller. I've read several thrillers by this author now and I am thoroughly hooked.

Better towards the end. Lots of characters to keep up with!

The Guest List in a different font

Just wild……. Would recommend