This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2024, and I did enjoy it.

You know from the blurb that “The Manor” is the brainchild of Francesca Woodland and designed by her architect husband, Owen.

The novel starts during the opening weekend and Francesca is certain that everything is perfect. There is a beautiful infinity pool, special “healing pouches” for the guests with crystals and a special cocktail to mark the occasion. The “Manor Mule” is already being enjoyed by the guests spread out on the lawn - it seems to be the start of a wonderful weekend. It is a picture perfect evening - until it isn’t.

I really enjoyed the premise and the setting was beautiful, the combination of beautiful woods alongside a cliff overlooking the sea reminded me of living in St Thomas.


I didn't enjoy that there was too many characters, some of whom have changed their names and identities. Between the guests, the Manor staff and the police, there are a puzzling number of characters to keep track of.

Lucy Foley has become an auto buy author for me, having loved all her previous books. She is a master of weaving stories filled with atmosphere and mystery. Her newest book is probably one of my favorites. Told from multiple different points of view it tells the story of a luxury resort opened by Francesca and Owen, much to the dismay of the locals. Every character has their secrets and involvement that leads to a battered body at the bottom of a cliff.

I loved the character development in the story and the weaving into the story of the local folklore. The book was a fast and incredibly enjoyable read. I thank #netgalley and Harpercollins publishing for allowing me to read this advanced copy.

Although this one didn’t WOW me, it was an enjoyable read. I think it’ll be great for summer when you want a creepy thriller that’ll keep you awake at night. I love the concept of a wellness retreat setting where everyone attending has hidden agendas and secrets from their pasts. It was slow burn at first while we learned about the characters. I always love a good multi POV, short chapters, and flashbacks to the past. These aspects were done very well along with the summer journal that slowly revealed clues.

I enjoyed the fast-paced ending when everything came together. The twists were predictable, and although the bird folklore added another level of creepiness, it wasn’t necessary. Personally, something in this book was missing for me to rate it 4 or 5 stars, but I think many people will love this book!

This is my first by this author and I’m so glad I was accepted to read it early because easily a top 10 book and now a top 5 author for me! I cannot wait to read more by this author! This book was so intriguing and kept me engaged and interest all the way through!

This is only my second Lucy Foley book. I'm not a big reader of thrillers, but I do enjoy twisty stories, and a mystery that allows you to figure it out if you're looking close enough. This book has both of those attributes, but there was also something missing. <i>The Midnight Feast</i> had enough suspense and intriguing twists to make me keep reading, but the writing itself was lacking for me. I wanted to know the answers, and I was drawn in enough to keep turning the pages. I think, though, that there were a few too many character points-of-view, and it was hard to distinguish them from one another-if the chapters hadn't been named by character, I would have been lost a number of times.

I didn't feel a spark, either. Why am I supposed to care about any of these characters? I don't feel much sympathy for most of them, because they all seem to be operating for their own selfish reasons. Why has it taken so many years for any of what happened to come to light? Why live with a secret for so long and then decide to go about getting closure in such a drawn out, roundabout way? Maybe there are answers to these questions, but there doesn't seem to be enough background for any one character to be fleshed out. Other reviewers have issue with someone not being recognizable after fifteen years, but I for one found that one of the most believable parts. There were a few times, too, that I felt the book was strangely similar to <i>The Guest List</i>, with a cast of side characters that seem to have been reused.

There are enough twists and pieces of a good puzzle here to keep fans of thrillers and in particular Lucy Foley engaged, but in the end I felt that there wasn't enough characterization for the story to really hit home.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of this book.

ARC review-

I loved this book. In true Lucy Foley fashion, we have a classic twisty turny whodunnit that leaves you guessing, not only who committed the crime but who the deceased character actually is, until the very end. The time jumps were easy to follow, and the journal entry POVs were a clever way to take a peek into the past as we learn more about our host of characters.

As the reader, you start off immediately suspicious of every character we are introduced to. You know that each of them have secrets of their own, some sinister and some innocent, and as usual the secrets are what ties everyone together. The last 15% of the book had my jaw on the floor with how many twists were revealed.

I definitely recommend this book for anyone looking for a unique twist on a murder mystery. Lucy Foley is a modern day Agatha Christie, weaving the most intricate and addicting stories to read.

This was such a good book! Lucy Foley always writes the most gripping stories and she has DONE IT AGAIN! Will be recommending this to my mystery/thriller lovers.

The Midnight Feast was nothing that I expected, and absolutely everything that I needed! The plot, the flashbacks, the character development?! Absolutely phenomenal and the best thriller of 2024.

Thank you for the opportunity of an eARC, and I am leaving this review willingly.

Author of “The Paris Apartment” and “The Guest List”
Lucy Foley is back with a new one, The Midnight Feast.

The owner, the husband, the bartender, the guest… and the detective…

Told from multiple point of views and alternating timelines, Foley gives us a storyline of suspense, folklore and drama. Bella is here to visit The Manor, a high end ‘resort’ in the woods. All the rich people gather and live their lucious lifestyles. Despite the setting they are in, they can’t help but ignore the local towns folklore of “The Night Birds.”
Francesca and her husband, Owen, opened The Manor and definitely don’t believe the locals crazy stories. That is until one night, The Midnight Feast, where those stories might just not be a crazy rumor anymore. The
multiple POV merge into each others lives on the night of the feast and the ending will have you surprised!!

Overall, I give this book a 3.5. The first half was a struggle to get into, however the last half was 🔥 Although overall the storyline ties together, there was some loose ends missing for me. Another thing is the story behind the folklore just seemed so far fetched for me. The scare factor really wasn’t there. That being said, I don’t normally love this writing style of multiple POV but this one was written well and the suspense delivered. I’m always a fan of reading diary/journal entries 🤪

Excited for this ARC to come out June 18th!
A huge shoutout to NetGalley & William Morrow Publishing for the ARC 💗

The Midnight Feast was a twisty who done it. This is told very various POVs and a non linear timeline. While I enjoyed the book I found it difficult to follow at times.

I’m I don’t enjoy this book as much as I have her previous books I’ve read. I thought there were too many characters and I was a bit confused at times what was going on. I read it through to see if I would enjoy it more, but unfortunately this book wasn’t for me .

Lucy Foley's books are hit or miss for me, but this was a pretty strong hit. Yes, I saw many of the twists coming, but not nearly all of them, and the overall message was great and viscerally satisfying. Bits of the end seemed a bit nonsensical, as is the case for most hyper-twisty contemporary thrillers, but that didn't diminish my enjoyment overall. It's a perfect summer thriller, and I love that it's set over the solstice too. It's got great summer and folk-horror vibes.

3.5 stars

i hated the ending to this - it felt rushed, a lot of the reveals were over-explained, and one in particular made me roll my eyes. BUT i LOVED the book up until then. i had so much fun reading it & it kept me guessing at every turn. i loved the wide cast of characters, it was a very successful suspense-building plot device. because of how strong i thought the first 75% was, i’m sticking to a strong 3.5.

Lucy Foley… what a book! I couldn’t stop reading. There are multiple points of view but it’s not to many that it’s overwhelming. It is such an amazing read and I am excited to recommend to everyone to buy when it is published!

Interesting premise and enjoyable read. I wasn’t an huge fan of the perspective shifts between characters and the diary, but it was ultimately effective.

4 stars! I enjoyed this! I've really enjoyed Lucy Foley's books with The Guest List being one of my go-to recommendations! The Midnight Feast is more like The Guest List than The Paris Apartment for those who've read both.

The Midnight Feast is multi-POV and follows characters through the opening weekend of a new wellness retreat, The Manor. We follow:
-Francesca, the rich, posh owner of The Manor on the coast of Dorset.
-Owen, Francesca's husband and business partner. He is the architect working on The Manor.
-Bella, someone who came to The Manor with mysterious intentions. We also get Bella's POV of a summer 15 years ago through her old journal entries.
-Eddie, a 19-year old dishwasher at the retreat and a local to the town
-DI Walker, who is investigating a body that was found the day after The Midnight Feast for summer solstice at The Manor

At the beginning of the book, we know that a body has been found and that The Manor is on fire, But, we don't know who the body is or what happened. I loved the suspense of trying to figure out who it was and what happened. All of the characters have secrets and it was fun to try to piece together how everything was connected and what led to the events on the night of the Solstice. There is also a significant influence of paganism and an old local legend of "The Birds". With the mysterious and nefarious sounding "Birds" and the dark, woods, this made for an unsettling setting and perfect backdrop for this suspenseful mystery!

Overall, I enjoyed this! It kept me interested and guessing until the end. There were some twists I wasn't expecting!!

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for this eARC!

Enjoyed this at first but by the end I was rolling my eyes. Way, way too many people turned out to be another character already introduced. Spoilers ahead: 50% of the way through the book I said to myself, if this detective turns out to be the long-lost brother I'm going to lose it. I lost it. An entertaining read but by no means my favorite.

3.5 stars, rounded up

The story is told around a Midnight Feast hosted at the opening of an exclusive resort. The resort is owned by Francesca who is a wellness guru (gag). One of the guests, Bella, spent time in the area when she was younger and is looking to find closure for something that happened in the past.

4 characters narrate the story right before and leading up to the Midnight Feast. Another narrator, a police office, investigates the aftermath of the Midnight Feast, which included a death. There also is a summer journal which was written 15 years ago which gives us insight into a tragedy that happened back then.

It's less confusing than it sounds - I was a little lost during the first few chapters that jumped around, but got into it fairly quickly. I knew the different characters would have reveals about them (since otherwise it would be a lame thriller) and I enjoyed getting to them. It felt very believable for how they all ended up together.

It was a bit of a slow pace but not awful. It drove me nuts how many of the chapters ended on a cliffhanger. That's something which can be done successfully (John Marrs is an expert at that) but it was irritating here and felt overdone in a way to falsely ratchet up the suspense.

The voices of the characters sounded similar so sometimes I was going back to the beginning of the chapter to see who's narrating. I would've preferred more differentiation. It also felt jarring that the non-police chapters were all 1st person but the police chapters were 3rd person. I understand "why" but it could have been done in a less jarring way.

I was left with some questions like: <spoiler> why were the twins locked in the wine cellar? Assuming Michelle did it, why? She didn't know the place was going to burn down. How did the empty journal end up back at the hotel? It was in the car so it should have stayed in the car. </spoiler>

The book kept me entertained and had a satisfying resolution. Overall, a decent thriller from Lucy Foley.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this advance review copy.

Ok, so I loved The Guest List and then found The Paris Apartment to be kind of mediocre as a follow up; this is a throw back to The Guest List and I'm here for it! Loved the bouncing back and forth to past, super past and present, loved all the connections between everyone. Lots of little twists I didn't see coming. Definitely recommend!

This book reiterated the fact that you can hide behind pseudonyms and a facade of wellness and light, but true character and experiences do not disappear. Francesca or Frankie as she was known when younger tried so hard to make herself appear peaceful.and angelic as she floated around the manor. The midnight feast symbolized health and unity; however, with the audience she attracted and the amount of money paid, it quickly escalated into hedonism and pure excess at the detriment of health and well being. Bella came to the event in order to face the events that resulted in an untimely death as well as the family who utilized their wealth and power to demean her and Jake and make the "problem" go away. it was interesting to observe how the people in the town rebelled against the manor but due to the economy of Tome, had no choice but to work there such as Eddie and Michelle. They felt the Francesca and Owen didn't appreciate the land and the history of the Birds and their capability for revenge. This book is truly s page turner and necessitates another read due to the complexity and evolution of the characters. Great read.