Lucy Foley's "The Hunting Party" (William Morrow, 336 pp., $ 26.99) zooms in on the New Year's gathering of Oxford friends, an annual occurrence since they graduated a decade ago. This year it has been arranged by Emma, a relatively new member of the group. She was in the same Oxford class, but not part of their circle, but now…
Lucy Foley’s “The Hunting Party” (William Morrow, 336 pp., $ 26.99) zooms in on the New Year’s gathering of Oxford friends, an annual occurrence since they graduated a decade ago. This year it has been arranged by Emma, a relatively new member of the group. She was in the same Oxford class, but not part of their circle, but now she’s dating Mark and is determined everything be sufficiently perfect to establish her as one of them.
Emma has chosen a lavish estate house – “a big glass construction” in the wilds of Scotland, perched at the edge of a loch and surrounded by fir forests and spectacular views of red-heather-topped peaks and an enormous mountain known as ‘”the Munro.”
Arriving by train at the start of a blizzard, the guests are picked up by Doug, the grounds manager. The only other person living on the estate is Heather, who manages the main lodge, kitchen and guest cottages.
Besides Emma and Mark, there are Miranda and her husband Julien, Samira and her husband Giles (who’ve brought along their baby) and Nick and his partner Bo.
The only unattached member is Katie, Miranda’s longtime best friend and a lawyer whose career is on the rise.
The storm grows worse, and the party is pretty much marooned until it passes – which doesn’t trouble them at all, as the place is well-stocked with food and alcohol. It does strike a couple of them as odd that two relatively young people would choose jobs that keep them so isolated, but they’re all pretty set on having fun so the thought is only fleeting. But Heather and Doug have secrets hidden even from one another.
With chapters alternating between the key personae, as well as the time alternating between the days before, on and after New Year’s Eve, the story rolls out like time-lapse photography, the camera regularly resetting to observe events from a different point of view.
We know from the short first chapter, for instance, that a body has been found sometime after New Year’s, though it will be many, many pages before victim’s identity is revealed. But the reader, having instantly been put on alert that the death is no accident, will spend most of the book trying to figure out who the victim is – and, consequently, which of them is capable of murder.
There are more clues than answers, and you see some of the seams of their longtime closeness fraying, revealing character traits you didn’t notice on the first pass.
Miranda, for instance, is furious with Julian who has indulged in insider trading and has implicated her in his crime. Mark has always been in love with Miranda, and she’s enjoyed the flirting, but now he’s getting a little too close for her comfort. Emma is clearly jealous of Miranda, and also knows Mark is in love with her. Quiet Katie has always allowed Miranda to push her around, but she’s losing her tolerance of her friend’s manipulations. And Miranda, the only one without a career, is jealous of Katie and her friend’s success is eating away at her.
You won’t be able to figure it out. Just let Foley’s nicely-structured psychological thriller unfold – and try to resist tearing through it. Better to read over a few days and savor the author’s genius for plotting.
Fran Wood, retired Star-Ledger op-ed columnist and former books editor, blogs at nj.com.