Another great book by Eve Chase! The Midnight Hour is an engaging, suspenseful read that kept me hooked from start to finish.

I've said it before but I honestly believe Eve Chase is the master of dual timelines. The transitions between the 1990s and the present day are seamless, and I felt equally engaged in both eras. I've read so many other dual timeline novels that have felt disjointed but that's never the case with Eve Chase's novels.

Set in Notting Hill, this novel felt a little different from Eve Chase’s other works, which are usually set in more rural locations. However, she really made Notting Hill come alive, making the setting feel like a character in its own right. The 1990s timeline left me feeling a bit nostalgic, especially as I'm a similar age to Maggie, the main character, and so could relate to the emotions she was experiencing.

I loved the characters of Maggie and Kit. They were well developed and authentic and I loved the bond between them. Sometimes when I'm reading mystery novels I find the character development can suffer as the author focuses on the twists and turns of the plot. Eve Chase always manages a great balance between a compelling storyline and characters you can really care about.

I loved the unpredictability of the plot as the author drip-fed clues throughout the story. I couldn’t figure out how everything connected until the very end. The ending was surprising and satisfying, and tied up all loose ends perfectly.

Overall, The Midnight Hour is another triumph for Eve Chase and I can't wait to see what she writes next.

I ended up really enjoying this; felt it was a bit slow to start but once I got into it I finished it so quickly! I liked the dual pov and having the different timelines peppered throughout. I felt the characters were very believable and the author was able to create such depth between the different relationships. I loved watching this slowly unravel and felt it had a very satisfying ending. Would recommend this to those interested in a romance draped in mystery with unexpected twists.

Having loved ‘The Birdcage’ by Eve Chase, I was eager to read ‘The Midnight Hour’ too. As anticipated, the writing is superb, and the storyline (related by major characters Maggie and Kit) is engaging, with dual timelines alternating between 1998 and 2019.

Maggie, now a successful author living in Paris, receives a disturbing phone call from Wolf, her long-lost first love. It instantly transports her back to the past when her celebrity mother, Dee Dee, mysteriously disappeared.

Seventeen year old Maggie’s life became upended because she had already lost her father and had to assume responsibility for her younger adopted brother, Kit. The phone call suggests that long-buried secrets would soon become unearthed.

Maggie hastens back to London to try to prevent that from happening and to protect Kit from full knowledge of the truth. Although, as the author writes, “That’s the problem with secrets: corrosively leaking over time, they sit between you and the people you love.”

Returning to Aunt Cora’s home is another step she needs to take to heal a breach in their relationship. Little does Maggie know that Cora has her own long-held secrets to spill when the time is right.

With builders digging in the basement of Maggie and Kit’s previous home, what might they discover that proves to be devastating in its consequences? Will Kit forgive her? Can she reconnect romantically with Wolf again?

All will be revealed in due course with surprises galore via the cleverly plotted twists and turns. Grateful thanks to NetGalley and Michael Joseph, Random House UK for the eARC.

4 for the story and 5 for the writing. I started reading this as a proof a few weeks ago and found it a bit slow. I got about halfway through and put it back down. Something this week told me to pick it up and i fell so in love i was done in 3 sittings. The writing is so beautiful I kept coming across descriptions and phrases that I was envious not to have come up with myself. It made me cry too and books don’t often do that. A must read

I read this ARC for an honest review
All thoughts and opinions are mine

The cover for this book is what drew me in - its absolutely stunning

The book itself is also amazing - I was completely invested in the characters and its a real page turner

Loved it

"It struck me that secrets were sewn into the very fabric of the Foales. Deception to avoid conflict - and so as not to ruin lunch - a family tradition. Anything but the truth."

Focusing on the Parker / Foale family's secrets and dysfunctional dynamic takes the reader on a whirlwind trip from 1998 Notting Hill in London to 2019 Paris. Protagonist Maggie and adopted brother, Kit experience drama after drama when their beloved model mother, glamorous and eclectic Dee Dee walks out on them one summer. Grieving their late father, they rely on new friend Wolf, who works in antiques and bohemian aunt Cora. The siblings finds themselves embroiled in their family's secrets and lies, unable to escape.

Reminding me of Kate Morton's novels, the author always spins evocative tales that lure the reader in, following all the twists and turns her characters experience. I was swept up in the characters' lives and their relationships with one another, in the cultural nostalgia (I am a similar age to Maggie) and in the mysteries unravelling. The lesson being the tragedies that result from secrets in families. A thoroughly enjoyable, escapist read that encourages to read more of the author's blacklist (I've only read The Vanishing Of Audrey Wilde).

When her mother doesn’t come home for several nights, 17-year-old Maggie is left alone with her little brother. Those few days and their new friendship with Wolf will change their lives forever.

21 years later, their old house is being renovated and Maggie is forced to return to make sure their secrets stay hidden.

An evocative family mystery and bittersweet love story which captures the heady Notting Hill of the nineties and surprises with several twists and turns.

The Midnight Hour by Eve Chase

I was looking forward to the new Eve Chase novel, but really shocked to win a competition for the proof plus a vase of my favourite flowers, peonies. All I’d done was describe what I loved about Eve’s writing: her female characters; the secrets from the past just waiting to spill out; the gothic feel and atmosphere she creates, especially around old houses; lastly, it’s the dynamics she creates between the characters particularly the mothers and daughters. I feel that in this novel she has gathered all those aspects together beautifully with an intriguing plot and such a relatable central character in Maggie. Maggie is an author, living in Paris and struggling with writer’s blog. Something from her shared past with brother Kit keeps coming into her mind. Her mother Dee Dee died from cancer recently and Maggie was there for her, until her last moments. Her mind keeps being drawn back to her late teenage years when Dee Dee was a famous model, living in the Notting Hill area of London, close to the Portobello Road with it’s antique and collectible traders. One summer morning, Maggie wakes up to find that Dee Dee hasn’t come home. This isn’t too unusual, late parties and sometimes modelling shoots can drag on into the night and she isn’t worried. She loves spending time with Kit anyway. They go out with Kit’s skateboard and he has a fall, breaking one of the wheels. A stranger comes to their aid, dusting Kit down and trying to repair the wheel. He introduces himself as Wolf and when his eyes lock with Maggie’s they’re the clearest blue she’s ever seen, his name becomes him. There’s also an instant spark between them and for Maggie it’s instantaneous, first time and first sight love. He recognises the connection too. It’s what makes him take the skateboard back to his uncle’s antique shop and use his tools to properly fix Kit’s skateboard. Just so he has an excuse to go back. These are emotional days as Maggie navigates this new feeling, but also concern for her mother who still hasn’t come home. She calls Dee Dee’s friends and they rally round but no one knows where she is. Maggie needs to go home and ask her Aunt Cora some questions and catch up with Kit. Once in London she makes her way to the old house with the pink door and bumps into a man on his way out. She’s surprised to see this is a much older Marco, Dee Dee’s hairdresser. He tells Maggie he’s digging out the basement of the house and sends her into a complete panic. Maggie knows that secrets lurk in the garden of their old home and it might not be long before they’re found.

Eve really gives us time to get to know Maggie and Kit. As a child Kit was the baby of the family, adopted by Dee Dee when Maggie was a little older. His blonde curls and sunny disposition give him an angelic feel and he’s certainly noticed by Wolf who dotes on him. Even grumpy Gav at the antiques shop falls under Kit’s spell, especially when he sees his polishing skills! As an adult Kit is more wary, now a dealer and collector himself, he has learned that not every customer is as honest as they appear. He does have a big heart though, so when an old gentleman comes into his life asking Kit to source some pieces for his new home, he wants to help. Roy appears a little down on his luck and Kit senses a loneliness under the surface. Of course someone’s appearance isn’t necessarily indicative of how wealthy they are, so Kit takes his request at face value. It’s only when Roy starts to turn up unannounced, wants to go for dinner and then talks his way into Kit’s flat that he starts to wonder if Roy is what he appears to be. In fact he isn’t even sure he likes him. He needs to be firm to shake him off but Kit dislikes confrontation and wonders whether he should trust his instincts, or is he just being paranoid? It’s lovely to have Maggie back in the country, they’re still close, but she seems consumed by that summer years ago when they first met Wolf. Kit isn’t sure what happened that summer, but he knows that one night Maggie took him from the house in a hurry and they ended up on a train to Aunt Cora’s in Paris. He knows she was protecting him but doesn’t know why and he knows his mum was missing for a while. They never returned to the Notting Hill house, instead moving to the country and into the house of Dee Dee’s parents. Kit promises to look for Wolf, finding his real name helps and soon Kit has him tracked down to one of the better auctioneers in London. Will seeing Wolf again put Maggie back on track?

I fell in love with Maggie. I was a similar age when I first fell I love and reading about her summer with Wolf brought back all those feelings. The wonderment that someone can suddenly becomes your absolute world. The beautiful surprise that they feel exactly the same. The discovery of sexual chemistry, totally losing yourself in another person, being vulnerable physically and emotionally, it’s all here. In very delicate strokes Eve sketches a teenage girl who is emotional and intelligent. Little hints about her physical appearance makes us aware that she is a curvy girl, she wears glasses and is a little lacking in confidence. She’s astonished that Wolf loves these things about her and Eve captures that self-consciousness, the apprehension about revealing her body to this young man that is swept away by his obvious desire for her. It’s honestly so beautifully captured that it took me right back there. She’s an incredible sister to Kit and nurtures him with a fiercely maternal love that I think comes from him being so much younger. It takes days before she starts to struggle a little with the responsibility of being left with him. He’s that age where he’s on all the time. Her feelings for her mother range from concern, to anger and incomprehension? It’s Aunt Cora who has always been the fuck up of the family, an addict who would arrive at Christmas and grace everyone with her acerbic tongue and disappear again. However, she’s been clean for some time when Maggie and Kit arrive in Paris and it seems strange to Maggie that she’s so together and furious with Dee Dee for leaving them alone. She concentrates on Kit and Maggie, who is heartbroken and possibly hiding something about the last days they were in London.

You will be swept up in the romance, the mystery and the relationships between the women. I loved the atmosphere of the Notting Hill setting and I always love the smell and sound of an antique or junk shop, the quiet and the smell of beeswax and the ticking of several clocks. I always find myself drifting into another time when I’m in one. The mystery of adult Kit’s visitor grabbed me too, because his influence is subtle I found myself questioning just like Kit does. Is he being manipulative or is this a coincidence? Did he intend to do that or is he lingering for genuine reasons? I wasn’t sure, but felt an undercurrent of danger for Kit if he didn’t keep his wits about him. What the story tells us is a therapist’s mantra really - unresolved emotions and trauma will always bring themselves to the surface. Whether through a similar event happening or a big change in our lives, these memories float to the surface with more resonance than they should all this time later. This is because they weren’t processed properly the first time, so Maggie is feeling that torrent of emotions as if she’s still a teenager. They’re just as confusing, painful, beautiful and overwhelming. She and Wolf never had a proper ending and I found myself longing for that closure to happen when she comes back to England. This was a wonderful read, deeply emotional but also a compelling mystery. I honestly think this is Eve’s best novel yet!

I am always so excited when a new Eve Chase novel comes out, and this one did not disappoint.

The story weaves from the past to the present day, from Notting Hill to Paris, as we follow the life of Maggie Parker and her family, from her teenage years to now as an adult.

I loved this - the bohemian life of her mother and friends, the eclectic life of her friend in the antiques business. The book was evocative and brilliant. I would recommend this to friends and family. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Midnight Hour by Eve Chase is a story of families, forgiveness and enduring love. Notting Hill 1998, Dee Delancey, loving mother, grieving widow, sometime model heads out for the evening and doesn’t come back, leaving her teenage daughter and her young her son Kit to fend for themselves. No-one loses both parents within a two year period, do they?
Maggie shuns the help of Dee’s chaotic friends and meets an unexpected ally in Wolf, an older boy with boxers fists from the far end of Portabello, she feels safe with him and in the world of dusty antiques, dark shops and misrule. There is however a stranger lurking that will under everthing Maggie has ever known. She must at all costs protect her younger brother.
Twenty years later, things that had been laid buried and hidden resurface and Maggie, Wolf and Kit will be once again in danger. Can the secrets stay buried or is it time for the truth be known.
An enjoyable read by Eve Chase, the third book that I have read and enjoyed by the author.
Highly recommended

I do look forward to a new Eve Chase book! But this book had me undecided.

It's split between scenes in 1998 and in 2019, and the flitting back and forth took a little while to get to grips with. We follow Maggie and her brother Kit, immediately after the disappearance of their Mother, and then 20 odd years later.

I blew hot and cold with the siblings. I liked their relationship, I felt that was lovely to read. But individually they didn't hold much merit for me. Especially Maggie. I liked her at first, she had to play Mum for so long and she's clearly hiding something, worried about something. But I felt she was quite morose and she tired me out somewhat. Kit I had no real opinions on either way.

I've said before that I prefer character over plot, but this felt too character heavy even for me, maybe because it didn't have many? It felt a bit two dimensional at times. And so then it needed the plot to bolster it and it just didn't come together for me.

It wasn't immediately gripping. I generally liked it, it was interesting, but you know how some books grab hold of you instantly and you know you won't do anything else until you've finished reading it? I wanted that, but I didn't get it. I enjoyed it and wanted to continue to read it, but I did feel my mind wandering at times.

This had a different feeling to others of hers I've read. I can't fully explain why, but her others had this bit of magic I felt, whereas this felt more real. That's not necessarily a negative, just an observation and it would be interesting to hear what others felt.

What I will say is that Eve is great at putting the everyday person into slightly different circumstances and seeing how they play out. Which is interesting because you have a sense of familiarity so you can put yourself into the story, but there's this edge, this "what would you do" feeling. #

This might be a generalisation as I haven't read all of her books, but the ones I have show me that she has a particular talent for writing lost people: those who feel alone, loners, orphans, those who have lost something, those just wandering about.

There were some twists and surprises I didn't see coming, but for the most part it didn't shock me. It felt a bit...like it's been done before? Nothing felt fresh for me, which was a shame.

I can't fault Eve's storytelling, we all know she's a fabulous author. But for me, this wasn't her best (looking at other reviews I can see I'm in the minority). Lots of positives to take away from it, and it definitely won't stop me reading her others, but it just didn't have the same spark I've come to expect from her work.

The Midnight Hour is another gorgeously written novel by Eve Chase. This time the setting is London in 1998 and 2017 and the main protagonist is Maggie who was 17 in the first time line and her life has been turned upside down. Her father has recently died and her mother has uprooted the family from their Surrey home to her old neighbourhood of Notting Hill. Then, without warning her mother disappears and she is left to cope alone with her 5 year old brother.
As always with Eve Chase, there are secrets within secrets and it’s a bit like the layers of an onion: once you get an answer to one question, another question rises up. I always wanted to carry on reading to find out what was going to be revealed next.
The characters were brilliantly written and all of them felt believable. I really liked Maggie’s character both in her teenage years and in the present day timeline where she is a successful novelist. I loved the relationship that she has with her brother Kit and also the spiky love/dislike that both of them feel towards their aunt Cora.
The setting is always an integral part of the author’s books and she really evokes Notting Hill in the late nineties even down to ‘that film’ which is being filmed in the earlier timeline. I loved the antique selling aspect of the story too especially the descriptions of Gav’s shop containing all types of weird and wonderful objects.
This was a really enjoyable read and I’m grateful to Net Galley and the publishers for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Maggie is living her best life in Paris, trying to leave her past behind her. Then she gets the call.
The call that has the reader's attention from the start.
Rushing back to London and her past, her adopted little brother, Kit, is high on her priority list.
Is Kit safe?

Will Kit be safe now that she is back? How much does he remember of what happened back then? What DID happen back then? Will she be safe back in London? Will Wolf? Where is Wolf? Why does aunt Cora deflect her questions?

As Maggie keeps digging in the present trying to solve the mysteries of the past, she keeps me with her as I the big sister that I am. I need to know too. I am thoughtfully with her every single turn as the author of the book is effortlessly taking us back with Maggie's memories to Notting Hill. With a rendering that is so well done, you feel you are there with them, wanting to make sure nothing terrible will ever happen to six-year-old Kit.

As the mysteries starts unraveling and she thinks she is getting to the whole truth, there are others twists around the corner that yours truly did not see coming.
At the end this reader was as relived as Maggie was, to find out the truth, at last.

The best book I have read so far this year. I will be browsing the other books from Eve Chase now.

What a corker of a read! I hadn't read any of this author's work but am seriously considering reading her others. I literally fell into this story hook, line and sinker. I couldn't put it down. Eve Chase captures the essence of the characters including those on the edges. The build up of tension as to who is buried and the many other secrets revealed throughout is excellent. I enjoyed the dual timelines as it gave so much development to Maggie, Kit and Wolf. They are great characters who will stay with me for some time. I thoroughly recommend reading The Midnight Hour when it is released, you will enjoy it. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC of this fantastic read.

The Midnight Hour is set in two timelines twenty one years apart – 1998 and 2019. Maggie, the central figure in both, is 17 in 1998 and is struggling with life. Her world has turned upside down a few months ago as her father, Damian, died and her mother, Dee Dee, has uprooted the family from a cosy existence in Surrey to a small house in Notting Hill in London.

Dee Dee is supposedly a big TV personality but I was struggling to believe that aspect as we didn’t see a lot of evidence of it in the book and Dee Dee’s finances seemed very precarious. This was something to do with Damian but I didn't quite get that aspect of the story. Maggie has a younger brother, Kit, who is five and was adopted at birth by Dee Dee and Damian. Dee Dee has never really taken to Kit and finds him tiresome which makes Maggie more protective of her sibling.

And then Dee Dee disappears leaving two minors to figure out what to do. Maggie is reluctant to alert the authorities as it would generate bad publicity for her mother and maybe end her career. She is also fearful that social services will separate her from Kit. We then meet Dee Dee’s close friends Marco, Suki and Clemence from her younger days in London who are now back in her life. All are slightly bohemian characters who didn’t fit into Dee Dee and Damian’s Surrey lifestyle. Maggie also meets Wolf who is a couple of years older than her. They strike up a very close friendship which get ripped apart after a short time and Maggie and Kit end up in Paris with Dee Dee’s sister Cora.

It was a good story with many twists and turns, some of which felt predictable but less so others. I found the judgement and personality of some of the key characters a little unbelievable and irritating so didn’t much care for any. The bond between Maggie and Kit was strong and a positive thing throughout the book. I also enjoyed the Paris and Notting Hill settings although both featured only lightly in the book.

I do like Eve Chase’s writing style and she often references things in a subtle and insightful way that I really like and can relate to. Things like ‘he keeps texting to a minimum too, just in case it sets off a chain of live communication events’! I look forward to reading more books by Eve Chase having enjoyed The Glass House and The Birdcage prior to reading this one.

With thanks to NetGalley and Michael Joseph for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately I had an early copy which was very badly formatted so that numbers appeared somewhat randomly in every line, sometimes even in the middle of words. I really struggled to get through the first few chapters and even seriously considered abandoning it but I eventually managed to train my brain to ignore the numbers and I am so glad I persevered. This is a gentle thriller with characters I became invested in. The story has a dual timeline and this worked very well and basically I became hooked.

I hadn't read Chase before, and that was my mistake. She's rightly acclaimed, and the twists this thriller takes are terrific. Recommend.

A good book about a family told in two time periods. I liked the descriptions of the people and places and the plot hooked me in little by little. There are twists in the story, where Maggie and her young brother, Kit are abandonned by their widowed mother. Maggie, aged 17 strikes up a friendship with Wolf who stays around when she is left alone with her young brother. When everything comes to a crisis point, they part ways as Maggie and Kit head off to their Aunt's in Paris.
There is a lot going on in this book though the pace is fairly relaxed there was enough going on to keep my interest throughout the book. Some twists were predictable, some I did not see coming . Family relationships are belevable and well described and there are a lot of secrets. An entertaining and thoughtful read, thanks to Net Galley for the ARC

Eve Chase uses her usual successful formula to great effect in her latest gripping thriller. Her format takes a central character who is forced to confront a troubling history, alternating between the present and the unfolding of the dramatic mysterious events of the past. It's a technique seen in a lot of novels and it works well. Chase usually writes each section (past and present) in a linear way, rather than dotting about all over the place, and it's always clear when each chapter is taking place and who the viewpoint character is.

In 'The Midnight Hour' the heroine is Maggie, who receives a phone call that shatters the peace of her existence. The call relates to the dramatic events that began in May 1998, when her mother vanished leaving 17 year old Maggie in sole charge of her young brother. Maggie returns to the UK and attempts to avert what she fears is a looming disaster. The sections in the present are narrated from the perspective of both Maggie and her younger brother Kit, now an adult, which adds another layer to the story and works well.

Maggie is a sympathetic and likeable character, and I was invested quickly in her story and eager to see how it unravelled. Likewise I liked Kit, and there are a host of interesting supporting characters. The plot kept my interest throughout and it was easy to read. There were a few surprises and it didn't turn out quite as I expected.

If you enjoy this type of thriller, it's definitely worth reading this and Chase's other novels. There are a few authors writing this style of novel, but I think she is consistently the best, and this is one of my favourites of hers.

The Midnight Hour is set in Notting Hill in 1998. Maggie’s model mother Dee Dee goes missing one night and she is left alone with her brother Kit. She meets Wolf, who she befriends and protects her and stalling her from calling the Police to say her mother is missing.
Maggie now an author living in Paris gets a phone call from Wolf saying that they are digging up the garden of their mother’s house and something has been revealed. What secrets are about to be revealed.
This is a beautifully written novel, but I am afraid I’m one out of a minority here. But this style of writing wasn’t for me personally. I enjoyed the first part but then I found it too get long winded and didn’t get to a point and I found myself losing interest. 3 stars from me.