Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley

138 reviews

gardens_and_dragons's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I tried out this murder mystery, and I liked it, but I didn’t love it- I think fans of murder mystery novels would probably love this a lot more than I did so I will chalk it up to. I liked it, but it wasn’t exactly my cup of tea. I think I enjoyed it moreso on audiobook than if I had read it physically since the narrators have all distinct voices and accents. 

Pretty much all of the characters are unlikable, which is fine because it gives pretty much everybody in there a motive to be a killer. BUT! I think the conceit of the novel not revealing who was killed until about 3/4 of the way through was actually detracting from my enjoyment of things. It meant that I was trying to figure out at the same time who was the killer and who actually died, which means that it was hard to keep up with the plot - anyone could have died and anyone could have been the killer. 

I did, however, find that the classic “stranded in the cabin during a snowstorm” Aesthetic worked really well for the book. It was very atmospheric and the wilderness and the cabin kind of takes on a life of its own. I enjoyed the side characters of the groundskeeper and the house manager because they seemed like the most complex characters out of all of them. 

I also think that the writing was really good! While it wasn’t the most purple of pros it really does suck you into each point of view and get you into the characters head which was pretty nice to see. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

Moderate: Mental illness and Stalking

Minor: Alcohol

emma6544's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Mental illness and Stalking

nicoletiff's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

hematthews's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Stalking, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Gun violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy

Minor: Kidnapping and Toxic friendship

clarklyn's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I really enjoyed this book! I would definitely recommend the audiobook, the voice actors added so much personality to each character. 

I wouldn’t say the twist was particularly shocking, it eventually becomes somewhat obvious what is happening. However, I loved the slow burn of finding out who was murdered along with the murderer. 

Now I desperately need a romance novel for Heather and Doug…stat!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

mcnoble's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I was recommended this book by a friend and once again, I think the audiobook is the way to go for a Lucy Foley novel. The full cast makes her POV chapters much more enjoyable and I think if I had not listened to the audiobook, I wouldn’t have finished the book. The story line of posh Oxford grads who peaked in college, reuniting for a chaotic New Year’s Eve seems full of cliches. It is messy, with everyone having the most emotional baggage imaginable mixed with excessive drinking and partying. Lucy Foley does a good job of making it a mystery as to who the killer is but it is so hidden behind unrealistic lifestyles that seem overused when talking about how English people act. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Stalking, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Pregnancy

linds_roll's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Drug use, Stalking, and Alcohol

lexithelion's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Out of Lucy Foley's 3 murder mysteries, this is definitely my least favourite. However, that is not to say that this is a bad book, because it's not. This book is a great first mystery that combines the difficult inter-workings of friendships and an establishing plot-line that puts all the characters in an abstract and very solitary situation. The book does not drag and the story is incredibly easy to follow; props to Lucy Foley for being able to write a 0% confusing mystery novel that jumps back-and-forth in time and also utilizes multi-perspective chapters. I will say that this book seemed quite fast and the ending was incredibly abrupt which is a pattern I've noticed in Foley's literature. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore and Toxic relationship

Minor: Drug abuse, Suicide, Medical content, and Grief

adearajean's review against another edition

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

Did a good job of setting up the mystery but the characters were unlikeable and dragged in the middle. At a certain point I was not emotionally invested in any of the characters but wanted to know what happens. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Eating disorder, Stalking, and Alcohol

niallgoulding1's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

Meh. OK as a holiday read. Ticks all the standard boxes with an interesting setting and a new red herring every chapter. Rattles along at a quick pace.

But in my opinion, while murder mysteries always require some suspension of disbelief, this one was too aggressively dumb not to earn an eyeroll. The killer's ending doesn't make any sense if you spent even 30 seconds researching how the justice system works. The mentally ill = villain trope felt icky and a relic from the past. Also, the writer keeps the identity of the victim a secret until the very end of the novel - I kept expecting that there was a reason for this but the victim was the most obvious, clichéd option so I don't see the point. The answer to the mystery didn't feel earned and wasn't clever. 

Not sure I'd recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, and Toxic friendship