The Midnight Feast

In the past few years, I’ve been a big fan of Lucy Foley’s thrillers. Her latest is The Midnight Feast, set at the opening of a luxury resort in Dorset, a southwestern county of England. With a dual timeline between 2009 and now, a clash between classes, and four characters with their own secrets and grudges, this is a fast-paced and gripping thriller.

Special thanks to William Morrow and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

Review

Lucy Foley writes her thrillers in a certain format that works really well for me. The Midnight Feast is no exception, with its array of characters providing first-person narratives in short chapters. The book begins with some setup, getting to know the four characters’ personalities, a sense of the kinds of secrets they might be holding back, and the general gist of what is happening here. In addition to first-person accounts from Bella, Eddie, Francesca, and Owen in the lead-up to the climax, we also get third-person chapters the day after it all goes down, from the fishermen who find a body and the detective investigating the accident (or murder?!). Interspersed with all of that are journal entries from 2009, painting a picture of all that happened 15 years ago and how it may tie in with the present day.

With so many characters and such short chapters, The Midnight Feast flies by. It’s the kind of read that gets quicker and more gripping with each bit of new information until you’re hurtling through the end. Some characters here feel sympathetic, while others are so easy to despise. Eddie, only 19, seems naive and kind, working as a dishwasher at the newly opened resort, The Manor. Bella is clearly hiding something… like her true identity and her reason for being there as a guest. Francesca, the owner of The Manor, is a wealthy woman who relies on positive energy and crystals and whatnot… but what’s beneath that fake persona? Then there’s her husband Owen, who is unhealthily obsessed with her, but maintains his own secrets, too.

As I was reading The Midnight Feast, I thought I had a clear idea of where it was all headed. However, the last third of the book definitely threw in a few curveballs. Some of my assumptions were proven wrong, the connections between characters sometimes went deeper than I’d anticipated, even the true victims and perpetrators were at times shocking. With its clashes between socioeconomic classes, dissection of power, and feeling of justice, this made for a satisfying and thrilling novel!

Final Thoughts

The Midnight Feast is the perfect summertime read, with its sweltering heat and themes of long-buried secrets come back to haunt us. If you want a fast-paced thriller with surprises along the way, put this on the top of your list!

Get the Book

You can buy The Midnight Feast here – it’s available as a hardcover, ebook, and audiobook.

The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley
Audience	Adult
Genre	Thriller; Mystery
Setting	England
Number of Pages	368
Format I Read	Ebook (NetGalley ARC)
Original Publication Date	June 18, 2024
Publisher	William Morrow

Official Summary

Secrets. Lies. Murder. Let the festivities begin…

“Sharp, stylish and stunning…Foley’s best yet.” — Chris Whitaker, New York Times bestselling author of We Begin at the End

“Everything you want in a thriller.” — Harper’s Bazaar

“Agatha Christie for the Instagram age.” — Guardian

The deliciously twisty new locked room murder mystery from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Guest List and The Paris Apartment

It’s the opening night of The Manor, and no expense, small or large, has been spared. The infinity pool sparkles; crystal pouches for guests’ healing have been placed in the Seaside Cottages and Woodland Hutches; the “Manor Mule” cocktail (grapefruit, ginger, vodka, and a dash of CBD oil) is being poured with a heavy hand. Everyone is wearing linen.

But under the burning midsummer sun, darkness stirs. Old friends and enemies circulate among the guests. Just outside the Manor’s immaculately kept grounds, an ancient forest bristles with secrets. And the Sunday morning of opening weekend, the local police are called. Something’s not right with the guests. There’s been a fire. A body’s been discovered.

THE FOUNDER * THE HUSBAND * THE MYSTERY GUEST * THE KITCHEN HELP

It all began with a secret, fifteen years ago. Now the past has crashed the party. And it’ll end in murder at…The Midnight Feast.

About the Author

Lucy Foley studied English literature at Durham University and University College London and worked for several years as a fiction editor in the publishing industry. She is the author of five novels including The Paris Apartment and The Guest List. She lives in London.