More Scooby Do than Agatha Christie
For ever in search of the next great crime novel, this book seemed to have all the right ingredients. Set in the wilderness of the Scottish Highlands, a disparate group of revellers trapped in a rural idyll by the worst snow storm for years. The scene was set for a real thriller.
The initial chapters revealed a simplistic writing style outlining the now cliched group of friends who trace their history back to university days at Oxford. This is the third contemporary who dunnit to choose Oxford as the common factor in the characters back story.
There were strong echoes of other modern thrillers which also offer the same mix of stereotypical characters; the disadvantaged underdog who battles against all the odds to come out on top; the over privileged beauty who treats those close to her with disdain, ultimately getting her just deserts; a dark and brooding mystery man, in this case a game keeper, one step away from doffing his proverbial cap at the London elites.
The first half of the book seemed moribund with naval gazing reminiscence, each character examining their past lives, feelings and motivations in minute detail. We learnt their back story in a frustrating and overly detailed narrative, by the half way point the plot was still in its infancy. Despite so much time being devoted to character development Lucy Foley failed to make us care about any of the people in the story, all two dimensional and inauthentic, all slightly irritating.
The cast list offered a modern day smorgasbord any diversity trainer would be proud of! but the essence of what makes people individuals was missing, preventing the reader from feeling any kind of empathy for the characters, thus not really caring what happened to them or why.
Full of contradictions and anomalies the reader often wondered how carefully this book had been edited. The train station that seemed to move its proximity to the Lodge depending on the plot line.
The concerned parents who wouldn't eat with the group because they wanted to eat with their baby, very laudable until they left the baby asleep and joined in the drug fuelled after party, Really?
The gay friend who everyone had a crush on. The glamorous one who was bright enough to get a degree from Oxford but then decided to be a stay at home house wife, is that even a thing?
The mousy side kick who outperformed her friend on every level , cliche.
Scarcely hidden secrets lurking beneath the surface of an outwardly perfect life. If the characters had been developed more skilfully the plot when it eventually got going would have had carried more meaning and held the readers attention.
Unfortunately because we didn't empathise with the guests we just didn't care who went missing or why, our interest was almost lost when suddenly the plot picked up. There were finally moments of high drama, twists and turns, red herrings so out of left field as to be almost farcical. On several occasions the reader was ready for the immortal lines....'and I would have gotten away with it if it weren't for you pesky kids!'
Apparently this novel is set to be made into a TV drama, it should work brilliantly on screen as there is an interesting plot lost in there somewhere.
We look forward to the TV version but until then I'm afraid 'The Hunting Party' failed to bag its readers!
Join us next month as we discuss
The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng
