This was an excellent thriller, a tense, well-structured novel where people’s long held secrets are forced into the open.

The setting was fantastic. This novel all takes place in a small town on the Dorset coast. The wealthy grand-daughter of the land and manor owner has inherited the estate upon his death and has chosen to develop it into an expensive resort. Francesca outwardly displays calm, spiritual goddess vibes but really, she’s selfish, callous and a horrendous snob. She’s a fantastic villain as she so firmly believes her own narrative believing she’s helping the people she treats disdainfully. She clashes with the locals who are furious with her cutting off their right of way to the woods and the coast. She believes she’s helping them by creating jobs, but this is false as most people are hired from elsewhere. There’s a really interesting juxtaposition of the genuine local folklore and pagan beliefs and superstitions of the townsfolk versus the fake, just for instagram nature worship that Francesca spouts.

This novel is told through multiple perspectives and this works really well for keeping the novel well balanced and providing a believable way for characters to gain information and uncover secrets as they interact with each other. Voices were distinct and the pacing was excellent.

Two timelines are shared through this book, twenty years apart. This was well handled through the use of a journal for the earlier time period which was kept by the teenage self of one of our perspectives.

I thought this book was utterly gripping and a fantastic thriller! Really enjoyable with a great theme and setting!

The Midnight Feast is creepily atmospheric from the opening page. The setting is new luxury hotel, The Manor, bounded at the front by steep cliffs leading down to the sea, and at the back by ancient woods. The owner of the hotel, Francesca Meadows, is pretentious and unlikeable, determined to let neither the local people nor their established customs get in the way of her goals. Mature trees and generations-old family businesses are all fair game in her plans for expansion. As the grand opening of The Manor gets underway, one of the guests doesn't quite fit with the others. It's clear that the out-of-place Bella isn't here to be indulged like the other wealthy patrons.

This is a very intricately-plotted novel, with short chapters and multiple points of view, both from the past and present. Within the first few chapters we know that The Manor has in fact been ravaged by fire on its opening weekend. There's a lot of story to come before we understand why.

Everyone has a secret in The Midnight Feast, and the surprises are still coming thick and fast even once you think you may have uncovered the major plot points. This is a novel that gives up its secrets gradually, and I found myself wrong-footed and having to revise my understanding of characters and events several times.

4* The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley. Dark, sinister and one of the twistiest books I have ever read. Nothing and no one can be taken for granted.

Francesca, heiress of the family estate and wellness guru is opening her Dorset retreat. Designed by her architect husband and dripping in high end everything, the hand picked clientele are in for an incredible opening week.

However, not everyone is in attendance to enjoy the karma. And not everyone is the person that Francesca thinks they are. As dark secrets are unearthed, will the past bring everything tumbling down.

This is a rip roaring ride. I was a little sceptical for the first third of the book, as the characters are mainly unlikable and there is a sprinkling of folklore emanating from the woods. But once things really get going, everything you think might have been happening is turned on it’s head. It’s an absolutely bonkers riot of secrets, bad behaviour and twists which I devoured across 3 sittings. An absolutely belting thriller.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

I enjoyed the story as a whole but kept getting confused as it jumped back and forth between past and present and there seemed to be too many characters POVs. Frankie/Francesca's character was the only really strongly depicted one.

An expensive retreat is the setting of this gripping story, which will keep the reader engaged until the last word. The settings are by turns luxurious and menacing and characters a bold mix of good, bad and downright evil! As murder mysteries go this one is a stunne,r with a very fine sense of place and characters who leap off the page fully formed into the reader’s mind.

Wow! What a page turner I could not put this book down. Even at the end lots of twists and turns.
Really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend to other book lovers.

3.5/5 I enjoyed this, the pacing was a little slow-medium for me in the first 3/4 but picked up in the last 1/4. I had no idea where the story was going and loved the way it all came together at the end.

I really enjoyed this book. I’ve also read The Paris Apartment and The Guest List by Lucy Foley, and I would rate this in between them. The Midnight Feast was easier to follow than The Guest List, with fewer characters, and I was far more gripped. There were plenty of twists and turns, and I was surprised right down to the last page. The novel predominantly takes place on the June Solstice weekend, as Francesca Meadows opens her new hotel in her Grandfathers old Manor, but secrets from a summer 15 years ago come to light. We move back and forth in time a bit over the weekend, allowing us to begin to see the police investigations. There are also chapters which take the form of a summer journal from 15 years ago, telling us the backstory and why certain characters are back on the scene now - I really enjoyed these chapters. Overall, I would really recommend it, a perfect summer thriller to keep you on the edge of your seat.

Childhood best friends, from completely opposite backgrounds, what could go wrong?
Francesca has turned her grandparents manor into the next up and coming venue for retreats for the best of the best. She is excited for the opening weekend but what she doesn’t realise is that one of the guests is her childhood friend who is only there to get revenge, and she isn’t the only one.

I loved this book, everytime I thought I had worked out what was going to happen a different twist happened! Amazing.

This book packs so much atmosphere, and really hits the mark. The tightly woven plot had me guessing right to the end. I love the way that Lucy Foley sets up a rich cast of characters, so that as a reader you really have no idea where things are going, and who will strike that final blow. This one for me invoked a real Hitchcockian vibe, with I can’t get enough of. Bravo.

The story centres around The Manor, a luxury hotel complex on the Dorset coast with “woodland hutches” nestling up to the forest. It’s midsummer and the hotel is celebrating its opening with wealthy select guests and lavish entertainment including a midnight feast.

Within the first few chapters the scene for suspense is set with a body in a cabin in the woods and the hotel engulfed in flames. The central characters are quickly introduced and it becomes apparent that each has a public face whilst hiding their true identity with hints of secrets not yet shared. There is also an external influence with someone manipulating events and bringing people together.

This is an intriguing mystery presented through the eyes of the central characters. I particularly like that each chapter is titled so that you know who’s story it is and where they are in the sequence of events. The narrative jumps forward and back in time and provides a tantalising glimpse of what is to come whilst carefully unfolding the sequence of events, exposing secrets and leading ultimately to the underlying motive. Events from the past come colliding into the future with life changing consequences.

A very clever plot, masterfully delivered and engaging throughout. Highly recommended.

I couldn’t put this one down. A twisty thriller where the actions of teenagers come back to haunt them fifteen years later. Cleverly done with some characters you love to hate.

Thanks to Netgalley for the preview copy.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC.

The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley is a delightful banquet of suspense, served with a side of psychological intrigue and garnished with a touch of the supernatural. Foley, who has carved a niche for herself in the realm of whodunnits, presents her readers with a tale that is as dark as it is dazzling.

Set against the backdrop of an opulent wellness resort, The Manor, Foley’s narrative weaves a complex tapestry of secrets and lies. The Manor, a symbol of luxury and exclusivity, becomes the stage for a sinister drama when a body is discovered following a catastrophic fire. The juxtaposition of the resort’s serene facade with the undercurrents of resentment from the local community adds a palpable tension to the story.

Foley’s characters are a masterclass in complexity. From the enigmatic founder Francesca, whose ambition is as boundless as the secrets she harbors, to the mystery guest with motives as murky as the forest that surrounds The Manor, each character is meticulously crafted. The narrative shifts between the present and journal entries from 2009, offering a glimpse into a shared past that refuses to stay buried.

The novel’s strength lies in its atmosphere. Foley conjures a setting that is both idyllic and eerie, where the line between folklore and reality blurs. The inclusion of the Night Birds, a local legend said to right wrongs beyond the reach of the law, infuses the story with a sense of otherworldliness that is both chilling and captivating.

Foley’s prose is sharp and evocative, with a rhythm that mirrors the ebb and flow of the ocean that hugs The Manor’s shores. Her ability to balance the beauty of her settings with the darkness of her plots is unparalleled, making The Midnight Feast a compelling read.

Lucy Foley’s latest offering is a feast for any moment one wishes to become lost in a world where every corner holds a secret and every character could be a suspect. It promises—and delivers—a journey through the darkest hours of the night, leaving readers questioning how well they truly know the people around them. A must-read for fans of the genre and newcomers alike, "The Midnight Feast" is a reminder why Foley is a maestro of the modern murder mystery.

I’ve loved Lucy’s previous books but this one was such a let down!

It’s a slow burn with 5 different perspectives and time jumps that I just couldn’t get into it. It’s a shame since the concept is fantastic but the characters were just so dull and unrealistic - do you actually expect me to believe that you wouldn’t recognise your close friends from 15 years ago?

I’m honestly sad that I didn’t enjoy this one!

A SUMMER heatwave can bring out the best in a country where these things happen rarely. People's smiles are brighter, their chat lighter, their hemlines higher. A bit of sunshine and even the shabbiest of gardens gains lustre under the beams of the sun.

But when the heat doesn't lift, when it becomes difficult to sleep, when the sun starts to burn, the mood shifts. Sweaty scowls replace the friendly grins, talk of weather goes from complimentary to scathing, the grass turns from vibrant green to withered beige.

Bella is in the Dorset town of Tome to attend the grand opening of a new country house retreat. It's high summer, the place is awash with the well heeled and influencers are finding themselves in the background of each other's selfies, like digital Russian Dolls.

Bella is not there to celebrate though, oh no. She has come to expose owner Francesca as a fake and a charlatan and worse, the culprit of a crime committed fifteen years earlier.

Francesca is none the wiser as to old friend Bella's presence at the retreat, as she prepares for the extravaganza that will put her hotel on all the must-do lists in London. A decadent if tasteful midnight feast is being planned, in which all the guests will don floral garlands and robes of white for a Midsummer Night's Dream ambience. It is the solstice, after all.

Local boy Eddie has found employment in the new venture, as a dishwasher with bar tending aspirations. His new job is a secret from his parents who, like most of the other natives of Tome, are in deep opposition to the establishment. It has delivered on few of its promises to benefit the area, and has driven bad blood between the townspeople and Francesca's family, who have owned the estate for generations.

The narrative flits from all three perspectives as well as Owen Dacre, the architect husband of Francesca who has secrets of his own. As well as that, it pivots to a third person perspective as it leaps ahead to the events after the solstice, where a body has been found on the nearby shoreline and the aftermath of the party is revealed.

This is the most successful narrative, offering more of writer Lucy Foley's wit and way with observation. The first person points of view are, while well defined, a little on the nose as they address the reader. Francesca in particular is somewhat cartoonish in her increasing unwinding, from privileged snob to unhinged Cruella deVil-alike.

In the passages depicting the aftermath, DI Walker, a dapper policeman from Scotland Yard is introduced. He has that world weary air that comes with a detective with demons, just how I like them

There are also diary entries from fifteen years prior, written by a young holiday maker who finds herself swept up in an intense summer friendship. These chapters too work better than the first-person confessions, and the teen angst is well captured.

Set in the undulating heat with murder and mystery at its core, I can picture The Midnight Feast as an ITV mini series starring Sheridan Smith, a nice succinct four-parter to stick on at the end of the day after a long few hours sightseeing.

It works that way in its novel form too of course, a perfect beach or evening read, the plot easy enough to follow that you won't lose it even while reading with a margarita or three in hand. There is darkness and sadness, but it's over-the-top enough not to give you the blues while you're soaking up that vitamin D. It's a leave the plot behind once you slam the cover shut kind of books, which is no bad thing in this context.

That said, there are twists galore, and even a hint of the supernatural to keep you guessing as to what is really going on in the town of Tome. It's not exactly un-putdownable but when you pick up from where you've left off you'll be looking forward to reading what happens next.

Lucy Foley is a brilliant storyteller and The Midnight Feast is another masterpiece. Weaving the story between 2010 and the present day it delivers a mysterious and sometimes mystical tale with the suggestion of large birds appearing with the threat of danger. Francesca or Frankie is the most annoying character with her rich girl entitlement and truly believing her position puts her on a pedestal. However, Bella has seen a different side to her and books in to her incredible new retreat for its opening weekend. With some great characters that enter the story seemlessly but have their own secrets and tales to tell. As the build up to the Midnight Feast escalates, Francesca is determined for it to be absolutely perfect but there are several others, including bitter locals who will go to any lengths to ensure it is a disaster. As we discover early in the book someone is dead and there is a fire but this knowledge does not detract from the back story and build up to the fateful night. With several huge twists this excellent story delivers on every level. Surely another best seller from Lucy Foley.

Fun! It gives Nine Perfect Strangers meets Blair Witch meet The Birds. A bit more bonkers than I expected but a very enjoyable read!

I am always sad when I finish a book that has had me gripped. This is definitely the case with “The Midnight Feast”. The title makes you think of boarding schools and Malory Towers but this book is much darker and more sinister. The Midnight Feast is not what you expect. The story is set by the sea in the village of Tome where people still believe in folklore in this case the power of birds. The birds play a large part in this. story of revenge and of class differences. It is set in what I would call a very expensive wellness clinic by the sea and at the edge of the woods. It is for the super wealthy but everyone has a story and people are not who they seem. The book moves seamlessly between the present and the past. The pace is fast and the story is well written. Recommended! Thank you Netgalley for an advance copy.

The Midnight Feast was a little slow going on the first two chapters but knowing this authors previous work I stuck to it and boy did it change after those first couple of chapters.
It’s June and near the summer solstice, Francesca has just opened her jewel in the Dorset coast, Tome Manor. She has converted the Manor House into a luxury wellness spa with luxury huts dotted around the coast and with treehouses to come very soon. Francesca is anxious opening day goes smoothly as she’s had trouble with the locals after moving a footpath through the woods so her manor and grounds were totally private. She sees a face in a crowd that’s a flashback from fifteen years ago but it can’t be her can it? She’s looked into everyone staying this weekend making sure they are the right people for her manor. If it is who she thinks it is this is going to cause trouble as Francesca hasn’t always been the polite, calm and dependable woman she personifies today.
This was a book that grew and grew on me, the more I read the deeper I got, the deeper I got the twistier it got. This is a dark thriller with a twist of folklore running through it which made for a great atmospheric read. I enjoyed the multiple POV as this really helped develop the storyline. Another winner for me by Lucy Foley.
I would like to thank NetGalley and HarperCollins UK HarperFiction for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

I love Lucy Foley’s books and was so excited to pick up her latest - couldn’t tear myself away!

This felt like her most ambitious book to date, with a large and detailed cast, appreciating time points and POV, a gloomy gothic setting and a rich and complex local history. It’s worth trusting the process -with so many characters it takes a little while to get inside their heads. However Foley masterfully wove the various threads as perspectives together to a great crescendo of a reveal that did not disappoint!

I really enjoyed the nuance of the varied characters, and the social complexity that The Manor evoked in the small town. Frankie’s character occasionally slipped into feeling a bit cartoonish, but I loved Eddie and his family, with their complicated dynamics.

Would highly recommend!

Thank you HarperCollins UK, HarperCollins UK Audio, and NetGalley for a copy of this book. Opinions expressed are my own.