I’ve enjoyed previous books by Lucy Foley, so was pleased to be granted a review copy of ‘The Midnight Feast’. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley – opinions, as always, are entirely my own.
This book centres on the opening of an exclusive resort, The Manor, on the beautiful Dorset coast. Guests flock to the high-end luxury and anticipate a fabulous solstice feast, all overseen by the owner of the great house, Francesca. However, the site has a dark past and some of the guests are perhaps not welcome. When a body is discovered at the base of the cliffs the day after the solstice party, the police have a task on their hands to unravel the events of the past that have brought The Manor and its guests to its latest tragedy.
I love this kind of book – lots of different perspectives, a split timeline, people hiding their real motives. There’s so much to keep me on my toes as a reader and I absolutely never work out the truth! This book is mainly narrated by Francesca, her husband (Owen), a guest (Bella), a local employee (Eddie) and DI Walker (the policeman). I liked that the story strands were so different, even as I found some of the characters very hard to warm to – as is completely intentional, I believe.
I thought the pace was managed well – there was a real sense of tension as the events built up to the solstice, yet with flashbacks to the events of the past that started to explain the events happening in the modern-day The Manor. I thought it was really well-plotted, although I wasn’t a fan of The Birds bits – I won’t explain as you’ll have to see for yourself, but I’m not a fan of the occult as a story trope. It isn’t central to the plot and didn’t detract from my reading of the novel, but I’m definitely more interested in the human motivations and frailties.
Overall, I’d recommend this to fans of tightly-plotted psychological thrillers – Foley manages to keep the suspense simmering and throw in some properly eerie ideas as we follow Francesca and company through The Manor and its surrounding woods, beaches and cliffs.
Header photo by Martin Adams on Unsplash
