The Midnight Feast: A Novel

by Lucy Foley

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

A murderer is coming to dinner — and they locked the door behind them. Perfect for anyone who was convinced they saw the twist coming in The Glass Onion.

"Sharp, stylish and stunning...Foley's best yet." -- Chris Whitaker, New York Times bestselling author of All the Colors of the Dark

"It is an absolute bonkers delight (and I haven’t even mentioned the local bird cult yet …)." -- NPR, Best Books of the Year

 Secrets. Lies. Murder. Let the festivities begin…

It’s the opening night of The Manor, the newest and hottest luxury resort, and no expense, small or large, has been spared. The infinity pool sparkles; 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 it’s not too long before the local police are called. Turns out the past has crashed the party, with deadly results.

 THE GIRLBOSS · THE HUSBAND · THE KITCHEN HELP · THE MYSTERY GUEST

 Everyone’s got a secret. Everyone’s got an agenda. But not everyone will survive…The Midnight Feast

"Foley’s usual techniques of unraveling the central mystery through multiple timelines and narrators are paralleled by the spiraling events of the weekend, which careen from juice shots and yoga on the lawn to a chaotic climax at a hallucinogen-fueled bacchanal where hidden identities and multiple murders are brought to light. It is an absolute bonkers delight" -- NPR

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063003125
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	06/18/2024
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	368
File size:	3 MB

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 six novels including The Paris Apartment and The Guest List. She lives in London.

Editorial Reviews

04/29/2024

Foley’s scintillating latest (after The Paris Apartment) centers on the grand opening of a resort in the English village of Tome. Francesca Meadows, who summered in Tome as a child, has teamed with her celebrity architect husband, Owen Dacre, to build an ultra-chic retreat called the Manor. Their plans have angered some locals, who believe the Manor will encroach on sacred woodlands populated, according to folklore, by supernatural creatures known as the Birds. Despite protests, the Manor opens its doors for a summer solstice celebration. Attendees include Francesca’s twin brothers, Hugo and Oscar, and Bella Springfield, a mysterious woman who seems to know Francesca from her childhood visits to the village. In the run-up to the opening celebration’s marquee event, a bacchanalian midnight feast, the guests’ past connections and secret motives come to light. The next morning, a dead body is discovered on the resort’s grounds, and a question hangs in the air: is there a killer in the Manor’s midst, or have the Birds taken their revenge? While keeping track of the book’s five different narrators can be challenging, the chilling folk horror atmosphere and sucker-punch surprises more than compensate for any temporary confusion. Readers are in for a grisly treat. Agent: Alexandra Machinist, CAA. (June)

Publishers Weekly

"An irresistible whodunit with an irresistible Blair Witch-meets-Fyre Festival backdrop." — People

"Packed with twists and turns....perfect for the murder mystery-obsessed and The White Lotus fans alike." — The Skimm

"A sharp, stylish and stunning murder mystery. Darkly funny, with trademark twists and unforgettable characters, The Midnight Feast is Lucy Foley's best yet." — Chris Whitaker, New York Times bestselling author of We Begin at the End

"An atmospheric, tantalizing thriller peopled with utterly recognizable characters, all of them hiding something about themselves and their connection to the eerie Manor hotel in Dorset." — Nita Prose, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Maid and The Mystery Guest

"Thriller fans rejoice: Lucy Foley is back with another fantastic novel. I devoured The Midnight Feast with a smile on my face. Rarely has murder been so much wicked fun. It has everything you want from a Lucy Foley thriller: a glamorous location, an entertaining cast of characters brought to life with a terrific sense of humor, an undercurrent of witchy menace—and an unsolved murder. This is the perfect book to take on holiday. Just count yourself lucky you’re not staying at The Manor."
— Alex Michaelides, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Silent Patient

"The Midnight Feast is Foley's most unputdownable thriller yet. Delicious and darkly glamorous, and full of brilliant twists."  — Lisa Jewell

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

"Chilling, exciting, and hugely satisfying." — Booklist

"The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley has it all… an isolated hotel, a coven of intriguing guests, a family with secrets and a community with scores to settle… while an ancient woodland masking secrets of its own looms all around. This is crime writing at its finest. An intoxicating dose of mystical hedonism gives the story and characters a vibrant darkness and depth that keeps the thrills coming. I flew through it, this fun and fiendish, five star feast of a read." — Janice Hallett, author of The Appeal

“A transcontinental whodunnit with chic panache, this page-turner will keep you up into the wee hours of the night.” — Good Morning America on The Paris Apartment

“Told in rotating points of view, this Tilt-A-Whirl of a novel brims with jangly tension—an undeniably engrossing guessing game.” — Vogue on The Paris Apartment

“Another page-turning thriller in which the story and its characters are as unique and beguiling as the city itself. … [Foley] keeps readers on their toes with a fast-paced story in which she does a stellar job of juggling the past and the present with multiple narratives without getting bogged down. You can feel the urgency in her prose. … A thrilling read.” — USA Today on The Paris Apartment

“With characters suspicious and unlikable in their own way and a fun twist, you’re in for a dark and moody escape.” — NPR.org on The Paris Apartment

"It is an absolute bonkers delight (and I haven’t even mentioned the local bird cult yet …)" — NPR

“A deliciously juicy, smartly paced blend of folk horror, psychological thriller, and social satire… Thoroughly satisfying.” — AirMail

From the Publisher

The combined strengths of Joe Eyre, Sarah Slimani, Roly Botha, Laurence Dobiesz, and Tuppence Middleton create a stellar full-cast production. Listeners will be caught up in this well-executed story of a friendly get-together that turns into a murder mystery. We are taken into the opulent atmosphere of The Manor, a luxurious resort teeming with intrigue. Eyre and Slimani bring a sense of urgency to the unfolding drama, while Botha and Dobiesz add depth to the complex relationships among the characters. Middleton's delivery of the underlying tension keeps listeners invested as the mystery unfolds. The interplay between old friends and enemies is brought to life through the ensemble cast's nuanced performances. M.R. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine

AUGUST 2024 - AudioFile