Book Review:: The Midnight Feast | Lucy Foley

One cannot escape the past. Crimes cannot be erased. And those who were affected cannot simply be forgotten.

The Midnight Feast is another edge-of-your seat, layered, multiple POV mystery by Lucy Foley that tells of the secret trauma of one fateful summer night on the English coast, and its rippling effects through time.

The Midnight Feast Lucy Foley Book Cover

Opening weekend at The Manor is slated to be the event of a lifetime with Francesca Woodland at its helm. The cabins are full, the facilities impeccable, and every detail has been fussed over and perfected down to the architect, the staff, the wine, and the turndown service. But by the time it’s over, the police are called in to investigate the dead bodies left in the aftermath.

The first 15% of this book followed the same blueprint as The Guest List (also by Lucy Foley), which had me scratching my head a little bit. Doubling down on a good thing, I guess. Instead of a new, exclusive, wedding venue on an Irish island, this book is based on a new, exclusive, glamping resort-type facility on the English coast. I feel like it probably could have been a little more original, but it’s ultimately forgivable.

We flip back and forth between the present and past diary entries kept by one of the characters on a summer holiday, revealing one entry at a time what happened all those years ago to create so much tension in the present. Probably my favorite part of a book like this one is how each of the POV characters fit into the grander story, and that is one thing this book does so well. Everyone has a link to the past, and they all have a role to play in the present, too.

I loved the folklore thread in the weave. Like any good English town, this one has a longstanding lore surrounding a hundred-eyed tree deep in the forest, and The Birds who seek justice on wrongdoing done in the community. It was a little exhausting reading the words “the birds, the birds, the birds” again and again, but the layer of uncertainty and supernatural it adds really worked for me.

About halfway through I knew this was going to be a banger. I listened as an audiobook and was honestly surprised when I looked down and saw I was only at the midpoint. It has the punch of a climax already at that point, but we get so much more, and the true climax is even more satisfying. If you’re looking for something thrilling and satisfying with elements of horror, this book is for you. Good luck putting it down!

Details

Title:: The Midnight Feast
Author:: Lucy Foley
Genre:: Thriller/Suspense
Publisher:: William Morrow
Length:: 354 pages
Audio Length:: 10h 20m
Audiobook Narrator:: Joe Eyre, Sarah Slimani, Roly Botha, Laurence Dobiesz, Tuppence Middleton
Audiobook Publisher:: Harper Audio
Published:: June 18th, 2024
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars