The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley

Seven friends arrive at a lodge in Scotland to celebrate New Years Eve.  They are old friends from Oxford and get together for a well planned party.  The vacations are planned by a different member of the group, rotating the making of arrangements over the last ten years.

This year it's Emma who plans the get together, having them gather at a very isolated estate in beautiful Scotland.  The intent is to catch up with each other's lives and ring in the new year together.  All of them have little secrets.  Eventually, one is missing then found murdered. Of the seven friends, one is probably a killer. 

After university people tend to drift apart, get other interests and just move on.  It seems this gathering isn't as easy as years prior - the laughter is too loud, the comments are barbed but delivered with a smile so it's not serious, that sort of thing. 

I purposely didn't read any reviews because I love being surprised and while there was one character I hoped it might be our author kept us guessing.  You knew the missing guest and their body had been found but lack of a pronoun didn't narrow it down for us readers.  Was it one of the men or a woman? 

The story is told by alternating points of views.  Heather is the manager and arranges for the guests' comforts and provides information, such as a ships purser may do.  She holds a secret as to why she lives in this stark wilderness.  Doug is the gamekeeper and has his own secrets about a violent past.  Him I like - well, Heather also as these are the only genuine characters in this narrative.

There are many characters in this book and I had thought I may be confused by all of them when I started reading, but then it's actually easy to know them apart. There are the seven guests comprised of three couples and the single woman Katie.

The locale and weather play a signficant part, almost a character of it's own right.  The snow storm was heavy enough to block access in or out of the estate. Descriptions of the cold were frequent, so vivid you could feel it.
 Everyone was staying put whether they liked it or not.  Not a comforting thought with one person dead and killer evidently among them.

In my opinion this is a good mystery which kept me turning the pages. 
Would I read more by this author?  Oh, absolutely. I'm on the list at the library for The Guest List by Lucy Foley.