Lucy Foley serves up a delicious feast of secrets, superstition, and revenge in this thriller set on the Dorset coast in the midst of a sweltering summer.

Wealthy manor heiress Francesca and her much younger trophy husband Owen create a resort for the wealthy and famous in the midst of the dark forest overlooking the wild coastline. But their plans for a magical opening weekend become violent when mythical village creatures appear to come alive to wreak havoc and exact revenge.

Every character, from the heiress to the lowliest villager, harbors a dark secret which they are desperate to hide and hungry to avenge. Rotating points of view and swift transitions between past and present make for a page-turning summer reading experience with an unexpected twist and resolution.

I had an enjoyable experience with this slow burn suspense. When the book kicks off, you know someone died, but you don't know who or how. You follow multiple POVs over the weekend of the grand opening of a new woodsy resort as you as the reader try to piece together what went wrong. I enjoyed the way everything came together (even though I will say everything felt a little too convenient with a million little connections). My favorite part was the atmosphere / cozy woodsy feel with some witchy vibes.

Thank you to the publisher for granting me access to an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions remain my own.

Pros: I've read the author's three previous mystery/thrillers and find her to be a dependable author in the genre. What I especially enjoy about her books is that the setting plays a big role in the plot, and The Manor in this book does just that. This book got off to a slow start for me, and it took awhile to figure out who all the players were and to make sense of the multiple timelines. However, once I got to about 66% I really enjoyed seeing how everything came together with many twists along the way.

Cons: The birds.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the opportunity to read this book.

This book was amazing and I devoured this book in just a few sittings! I loved the character development and how the story progressed.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book because I had read some very mixed reviews of this book but I’m honestly surprised that this book was so much better than I expected it to be.

Frankie clearly has some deeply disturbing mental challenges we will say …. She tries so hard to forget her old life and all of the bad things that happened in it, but they haven’t forgot her. Opening weekend of her new posh hotel proves to be very interesting. The past comes back with a vengeance and it would seem that justice is served. A family is reunited, a son moves past his mother‘s death. Another son figures out what his mom‘s secret life is.🫣.

All in all a very quick, good read. I didn’t want to put it down. I just had to know how this was going to go.

As a long fan of Foley, I so wanted to love this book, but it was not it for me.

The book centers around The Manor, a new wellness hotel that has its opening weekend during the Solstice. Owner Francesca wants to have a midnight feast for her guest, an homage to her childhood days when she was growing up on the same grounds that The Manor is on. The story jumps between characters and time, so we know there was a fire and a death, but not how they all tie together.

Foley is known for her characters all getting their perspective shown, and she does that well in this one. The characters all get fleshed out well, and the pieces of that past that led them all to The Manor at the same time were well done.

My issue with this one is it didn’t feel like a suspense novel. The “whodunnit” felt secondary to the character building in the novel, and so many of the characters I just didn’t care about because they were awful. I wanted to be more invested in the mystery, but by the end of the book, I didn’t even care anymore.

If you’re already a Foley fan and interested, pick it up. If you haven’t read her yet, I wouldn’t start with this one.

🫶🏽What I enjoyed
I read most of this at night while home alone and it was so eerie it gave me chills! I loved the short chapters and felt like many of them ended as cliff hangers because the next chapter would change POV, so it kept me wanting more. Even though it was slow, these little snippets at the end of many chapters kept me from ever getting bored. No surprise, the ending left me shocked and I had a little book hang over.
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I will say, there are so many POVs, timelines and small details that this would have been easier to follow if I had binged it to keep details fresh in my memory, instead of spacing it out across a week because I did start to forget things. I would have absolutely been lost if I had tried to listen to this on audio. Also, one of the POV’s is a teenage girl and bravo to Lucy for making me realize how incredibly annoying I must have sounded as a teenager 🤣 The writing style was spot on for what a teen sounds like 🙈

I was thrilled to get selected for an ARC for this book because I am a big fan of Lucy Foley’s thrillers. I enjoyed this book, but my favorite still remains The Paris Apartment. Things I enjoyed about the book:
- multiple POVs in typical Foley fashion
- the Manor, this renovated, perfect and hip retreat destination was a great setting for a thriller
- the childhood legends to stay out of the woods and beware the Birds gave the story a creepy vibe
This book was unpredictable for me until the end!

Lucy Foley never fails to keep me guessing! I've loved all of her books so far, and this one was no different. Highly recommend if you already enjoy her or if you enjoy Agatha Christie or similar stories.

Thank you to @NetGalley for letting me read the advanced ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Wow this book was not what I was expecting, and not in a good way. I have enjoyed other books by Lisa Foley, but this was just too expected. No twists or turns, but so obsessed with "The Birds" but weren't really addressed in the end. It was a classic mean/rich/narcissistic girl gets whats coming to her from all the people she wronged. I was expecting more but it just fell flat. It did get confusing with the amount of jumping from past and present with all the characters.

I will read her books in the future, but this one was not a hit for me.

Usually I LOVE anything Lucy Foley does but this one was just not for me. The setting was great, I thought it was very captivating. But I was confused about 65% of the time because there were so many characters to keep track of. Additionally, I felt like I was reading a story that went a little like this:

And she was like....
And I was like.....
Then she was like.....
And he was like....
But I was like....

It was driving me mad. The premise of the story was utterly intriguing but unfortunately it fell a little flat for me. I still enjoyed it but I don't think it is a book I would read again.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers at William Morrow for the opportunity to ARC read The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley.

It’s opening night at “The Manor” and no expenses have been spared. Old friends and enemies are all mingling in the crowd of guests. The midsummer sun is burning and yet there is a darkness stirring. Past the grounds of the Manor is a forest full of secrets. Once morning hits, the police are called. There has been a fire and a body is found.

Lucy Foley, is one of the very few thriller authors I trust. I find myself not liking thrillers often, yet every one of Foley’s novels is a five star for me. Their writing is very immersive and atmospheric and the multiple POV style of story telling is an absolute favourite.

These characters, were a mess. In a good way. I loved them. I found them to be very well fleshed out and well rounded. Their relationships and the way they handled things were messy and I ate it up.

I absolutely need a physical copy when this comes out.

I thought the Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley was an excellent thriller! The multiple view points over flashbacks was a little wonky to keep track of. However! I'd rank this one over her previous book, The Paris Apartment. I very much enjoyed the ability to read this one early. Thank you! I will be recommending this to friends who enjoy a good thriller.

The Midnight Feast is the first Lucy Foley book I've had the chance to read, and wow was it an exciting and twisty ride. Told through the perspectives of several characters and jumping between the past and the present, this book will have you at the edge of your seat. Set in what at first appears to be an idyllic boutique hotel in the countryside, the owners of The Manor, the locals working for them, and even the police are not who they seem. Each time another twist and revelation is revealed, you can't help but say, "Wow!" aloud. Definitely a summertime must read.

I think there were too many characters and timelines for me to really love this one. I had a hard time keeping track and it was slow going in the beginning, but the last 20-30% all the characters came together and I liked the twists. I also didn't love the bird folklore element, and found these scenes a little misplaced and distracting from the plot. The atmosphere of the Manor and the tension built was well-done.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC! Review live now on GoodReads and StoryGraph

✨Star Rating: 3.5⭐️

The opening weekend of The Manor, a luxurious and hoity toity get away in rural England, is not going as planned. While everyone is abuzz about the retreat, locals are not thrilled, and one particular guest seems to have motives beyond celebration and relaxation. And the day after the solstice celebration, the manor burns to the ground and someone is dead. But the how and why are grounded in the past and intertwined with local legends.

I struggled to rate this one. Even now I’m uncomfortable giving it a solid star rating because I don’t feel like I can truly categorize it with stars.

The first third of the book was tough. It bounced between many characters and timelines. I usually love a split timeline, but there were three timelines and five povs, which made for a lot of details to manage. It was also creepy. In the end as things are explained, I feel like the creepy vibe faded, but in that first third/half, I couldn’t read it before bed. I’d give the first half of the book 2 ⭐️⭐️ stars.

So my overarching statement will be this: If you can hang on to get to the end, it is worth it. The final 30% as everything comes together, all of the questions are answered, and the storyline wraps up, it was just so good. There were little twists, unexpected tidbits, and connections I didn’t see coming. The many details of the first half of the book came together and I found my jaw dropped several times. The second half of the book was a 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Star. I couldn’t stop reading.

Overall that leaves my review as a 3.5 star rating. I’m very thankful to have received and early copy for free in exchange for my honest review. Thank you Lucy Foley for the intriguing read, Netgalley, and Harper Collins Publishing!

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for this ARC!!!

I have read almost all of this author’s thrillers, and this is my favorite BY FAR. I did not guess any of the twists and could have even cried at the end. Honestly, no complaints. Must read.

Thank you so much to Lucy Foley, William Morrow, and NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Immediately, when I found out Lucy Foley was releasing a new book, I knew I needed to get my hands on it and read it. I have been a fan of her writing for quite a while and always look forward to picking up her new releases. This book felt a bit different than Lucy's normal style, a little more eery, and she really played into character development and personality shifts. This didn't deter me in any way from diving into the story and, of course, finishing the book. If you're looking for a clash of the past and present, locals and out-of-towners for the sake of justice finally being served, this is a book for you to pick up.

Locals and visitors have been summoned back 15 years after a mostly unknown tragedy happened in the community. Some unaware of what unearthing of the past is to come and some are a part of it. Two return by choice, happily married and ready to build an extravagant getaway for out town guests. The Manor and its owners are unwelcome by the local community, but that doesn't stop them from want to revive the land that was willed to Francesa after the passing of her grandfather. Opening weekend of the Manor brings more than Francesa and Owen expected. What they thought would be an incredibly successful endeavor becomes a nightmare when unbeknownst to them some old friends and enemies are lurking in the crowd. A weekend that should be kickstarting their future becomes a Sunday morning with a burned down Manor, unsettled guests, and an unidentified body. Just beware of the blackbirds.

I thought The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley was a solid and engaging thriller! The multiple POVs were interesting- I found myself enjoying all of them and looking forward to each perspective. I also really liked the setting- a newly built (and still slightly under construction) elite wellness resort near the edge of the forrest on cliffs of Dorset. It became a character in its own way and colored the novel with an alluring atmosphere. I also enjoyed all the little twists and pieces of information that we were allowed periodically throughout- I was constantly surprised and never felt like I was waiting for a “big twist”, as the new pieces of info were revealed with perfect timing. I was on board until the very last page! This was my 4th book by Lucy Foley, and I have to say I think it’s my favorite so far!

Another gripping entry into the Lucy Foley canon, The Midnight Feast captures interest immediately and doesn't let up until the final pages. The wooded setting, with its macabre legends about the Birds, is fittingly dark and foreboding, and the characters, each with his or her own thread tracing back to the deadly events that took place there in the past, add to the tense storyline as their past and present motivations are gradually revealed. The writer brings off a densely plotted narrative and convincingly pulls together all the disparate characters and their hidden relationships to each other (sometimes unknown to themselves) until their connections to the place and each other are finally revealed. The pacing is great, the suspense is well-maintained throughout, and the reader cares about the characters and the final outcome as the truth becomes apparent. Readers that are fans of suspense and psychological thrillers should find a lot to like here.