I read this book in broad daylight and couldn't shake the feeling someone was watching me.

Return to Midnight is an incredibly eerie debut thriller that had me hooked from the first page and had my heart racing until the last. Dues masterfully alternates between two timelines, both with horrific endings shrouded in mystery, giving just enough information to build the suspense without spoiling the final arc that made me GASP.

Not only did Dues suck me into the Midnight House, but she made me care for each character, flaws and all, to the point that I mourned them whether they deserved it or not. Margot is an unreliable narrator and fits into the arcs of most "final girls", which made this even better for me, but if that's not your cup of tea, you may be frustrated every time she should but doesn't call the police.

An entertaining read, an instant recommendation to any who enjoy thrillers. I'll definitely be picking up any of Dues' future works.

First and foremost ,thank you to the author and publishers for the ARC . I am pleased to have had the opportunity to read and review.

Emma Dues has done a wonderful job with “Return to Midnight”. The story follows a former ballerina as she revisits her former college town and the home where a massacre stole the lives of her closest friends. Unfortunately,her return threatens to bring long buried secrets and the nightmares of the murders bubbling to the surface.

The plot of this book and it's ties with the dance world had my interested peaked from the start. Personally I feel that the first 20% or so is a bit of a slow burn but the pace picks up from there and the details are worth it end the end .The author weaves seamlessly between past and present timelines. At points you may want to shake the characters in frustration but it just adds to the tension. Speaking of tension, this story is a true who dun it and keeps you on your toes til the end. Every time you think you've guessed the truth new information emerges and has you questioning it all again.

Overall, I think this is a great debut novel. The authors style of writing is easy to follow and enjoy. I look forward to seeing more of her work in the future.

Almost ten years ago, Margot was a senior in college, living her best life in a big old house with all her closest friends. And almost ten years ago, Margot survived a massacre in that house in which almost all of those friends were killed. A suspect was caught and convicted, and Margot has tried to move on…though mostly that means barely sleeping, barely eating, and barely leaving her mother’s house. Now, as part of the process of writing a book about that massacre, she’s returning to the house she lived in in college for the first time since the massacre. And things aren’t all as they seem…

I couldn’t tell you why, but I’m a sucker for final-girl-revisits-the-scene books. In this case, the cover drew me in (though ballet turns out to be a minor part of the book), but I would have been interested based on the description anyway. Massacres and final girls and old Victorian houses? Yes please.

The result is mixed. I finished the book late at night, and the end gave me some heart-pounding moments, which I appreciated. The dance element is also nice, in places: Margot and her friends were mostly dance minors at university, meaning that they had skill and interest but generally weren’t planning to make careers out of dance. As a rule, they’re as interested in partying and drinking and carb-based food as they are in putting in practice and perfecting pirouettes. This isn’t a side of dance that I see reflected often in fiction—I’m much more likely to see books in which the characters are desperate make it into a professional company, when in reality the experience Margot and her friends have is much more common.

But I don’t love the voice (first person POV doesn’t help, I think), and Margot’s pretty inconsistent: she goes straight from a reclusive, terrified life to staying at the scene of the crime, telling her secrets to what sounds like a tabloid reporter (bad move for a number of reasons, not least that she’s writing a book about it and should think carefully about what she wants other people to be able to publish before she can), and running around town accusing people of stalking and/or murder. I think I’d have found her more believable if she *had* been able to move on more in the past nine years, or if she were less willing to throw herself back into it. Meanwhile, as we learn more about the side characters, they tend to get more appealing rather than less.

And…I’m not sure how best to say this, but lord have mercy, Margot is dumb as a box of rocks. Absolutely zero sense of self-preservation: in addition to trusting a stranger she knows nothing about (and inviting him over, and falling asleep while he’s there, and giving him free rein in the house), she contaminates evidence, doesn’t think to contact the police about that evidence or about stalking, routinely confronts people she suspects of violence, goes down into the basement without any sort of backup every time she hears a noise there…so many chances for her to end up even more traumatized, to say nothing of very dead.

Finally, this is a book in which a large amount of the plot hinges on Margot not being honest with the reader. There are some major gaps in her knowledge about what happened—we don’t get her memory of the murders until late in the book, but it could have opened the book without significant spoilers—but about other things she is very, very coy with the reader. I understand why it’s done, but it’s not something I much enjoy in thrillers; I like to be on the same page as the narrator (and, you know, to be afraid they’re going to die). For readers who don’t mind this withholding of information, this won’t be a problem, but…mileage may vary.

So—points for premise and the interesting use of ballet, but the characters are hard to connect with and overall it ended being not what I was hoping for from a thriller.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.

Return to Midnight by debut author E. Dues, published by Thomas & Mercer, is an absolute gripping thriller of it's finest. Heartstopping, goose flesh giving, unputdownable, angsty and full of unexpected twitst and turns that had me guessing til the last page.
Blurb:
On the anniversary of a mass murder, a survivor returns to the scene of the crime―and all its buried secrets―in a twisting novel of suspense.
Nearly ten years ago, five Ohio university students were murdered in an Victorian home. The media dubbed it the Midnight House Massacre. Ever since, survivor and novelist Margot Davis has wanted to forget it, and never again utter the killer’s name. Until she’s compelled to write her side of the story. To do that, she’s returning to Midnight House.
It’ll be a chance for Margot to reconnect with other survivors, heal the trauma, and dispel the ugly conspiracy theories of obsessed true crime fanatics. But when news of Margot’s book gets out, she receives a threatening note that demands she stop lying. Or else. It chills Margot’s blood. Because she hasn’t been telling the whole truth.
As the threats continue, each more sinister than the last, a journalist comes to Margot with new suspicions about that brutal October night. Now, to save her own life, Margot must reveal her well-guarded secrets―ones that, for good reason, she’s been too terrified to share.

I really enjoyed this book. It had just the right amount of thriller, mystery and suspense. I liked the back nd forth storyline settings, and the pace in which we find things out. There are many twists and turns, you never know who or what to trust. Looking forward to reading more from the author in the future.

First of all, a moment for how gorgeous this cover is.

Now, getting into the book itself: I loved the present timeline aspect of it. I was completely absorbed as Margot unraveled the mystery and dealt with almost 10 years of trauma. However, the multiple timelines — in particular, how the ones in the past were out of order — were distracting. I think the story would have been a lot stronger if Margot would have slowly revealed that information in the present timeline, versus the reader hopping around.

Overall, I enjoyed the story, but so many of the plot points felt unresolved or underdeveloped, including Margot's job, her intense relationship with her mother, and the dynamic between the college friends. I don't want to be too specific as to spoil anything, but it was like the author laid the groundwork for many red herrings and clues, but never followed through.

For any true crime fans and fans of thrillers- I would not sleep on this book. The author masterfully created an ominous sense of dread and kept me hooked on every page. I felt like this book was a blend of the recent Idaho University murders and Black Swan. The flashback scenes of what Margot heard the night of the massacre were truly haunting. This book will stay with me for a while and I look forward to reading anything else Emma Dues writes. Thank you to Thomas & Mercer, Netgalley, and Emma Dues for allowing me to read this ARC.

It has been almost ten years since five students were brutally murdered at a small college campus in Ohio. The murders took place in what the media ended up calling the Midnight Murder House, and survivor Margot Davis has been avoiding it ever since that horrible night.

As the anniversary nears, Margot finds herself compelled to write about what took place in the Midnight Murder House, even if it is just to confirm they caught the correct man. To do it justice, she knows she will have to return to the house and look for the answers herself. Of course, soon after her return, she begins receiving threatening notes. Someone does not want her searching for more answers, but how far are they willing to go to stop her?

Overall, this is an entertaining read. Margot is a frustrating character who falls victim to many genre tropes (why is she running down to the basement instead of outside to safety?), but the flashbacks help to build suspense. Additionally, some elements of the book, particularly relating to the surviving roommates, feel a little ripped from the headlines. This could be off-putting for some readers.

This is a fast read and a decent thriller, making it a solid choice for a vacation read.

Just like Meredith Gray this book is a bit twisty and I like it. Thank you Netgalley for this arc. I had a good time reading.

The story follows Margot, a survivor of a horrifying massacre at her shared home with fellow ballet members. Along with her friends Kyle and Remi, Margot finds herself back in the home nearly a decade after the tragedy, trying to relive the moments for her book about the murders. But as she delves deeper into the past, she receives threatening messages warning her to keep her secrets hidden or face the consequences.
Enter Cooper, a journalist who becomes Margot's unexpected ally in her quest for the truth. Together, they review the events leading up to the massacre and compare notes, trying to uncover the real story behind the murders. Was it really Margot's friend Aaron, who is currently serving time behind bars for the crimes, or is there a more sinister force at play?
The author does an excellent job of building tension and suspense throughout the novel. The complex relationships between the characters add depth to the story, and Margot's inner turmoil and guilt over the events that took place make her a relatable and compelling protagonist.

A great debut novel!

📚 PRE-PUBLICATION BOOK REVIEW 📚

Return to Midnight
By Emma Dues
Available to Purchase: August 27, 2024

📚MY RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨

📚THE SYNOPSIS:

Nearly 10 years ago, 5 Ohio university students were murdered in an off-campus Victorian home. The media dubbed it the Midnight House Massacre. Ever since, survivor Margot Davis has wanted to forget it, until she’s compelled to write her side of the story and return to Midnight House.

It’s a chance for Margot to reconnect with other survivors, heal trauma, and dispel the ugly conspiracy theories of obsessed true crime fanatics. But when news of Margot’s book gets out, she receives a threatening note that demands she stop lying. Or else. It chills Margot’s blood. Because she hasn’t been telling the whole truth. As sinister threats continue, a journalist comes to Margot with new suspicions about that October night. Now, to save her own life, Margot must reveal well-guarded secrets—ones that, for good reason, she’s been too terrified to share.

📚MY REVIEW:

From start to finish, this book was creepy, scary, and chilling -- everything you want when you pick up a thriller! There was a paranormal vibe throughout, which made it hard for me to read this book at night. I guess I'm fine reading about serial killers and murders, but the idea of a ghost? Nope, too scary. 🙄😂

This book jumped around with different time periods, which helped tell Emma Dues' story with heart-pounding foreshadowing as clues eked out slowly. There was an unreliable narrator too, which is fun because you're never sure you can trust the perspective of the person telling the story. The ending had several WILD twists that I didn't see coming AT ALL - I love when a book isn't simple to figure out!

But...I was REALLY unsettled by so many details of this story being so eerily similar to the Idaho College Murders, still in the headlines. Honestly, I expected an author's note at the end saying the book was loosely based on those murders. No spoilers, but if you closely follow the Idaho Murder case, you'll see it. I'm curious to hear what other true crime fans think!

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this copy in exchange for my honest review!

This was a fantastic thriller! Although it is a concept that has been done a lot recently, I was surprised by how captivating this book was and how quickly I was trying to read it to see what would happen next! It was so engaging and I couldn’t put it down. I definitely would read other books by this author again!

Arc for review. To be published August of this year. Thank you NetGalley and publishers for an early look into Return to Midnight. The debut novel from Emma Dues.

This eerie thriller had me hooked from the first chapter and I couldn’t put it down. A horrific massacre, 3 survivors and a whole lot of guessing and second guessing everything you thought you had figured out.

This book is told in two different timelines. One following Margot journey 9 years post massacre where she is revisiting the source of her trauma to write a book and clear the Rumors about what actually happendat the Midnight House. The second is the days leading up to the massacre where we see Margot and her roommates navigate their senior year of college and uncovering secrets among friends.

I couldn’t put this book down. I ended up reading it in a workday. Between clients, on my lunch. I could not stop..The more secrets I learned, the more my brain was trying to put the pieces together, and when I thought I had it figured out, there another secret.

After reading so many thrillers you tend to figure things out pretty early so I love when an author can completely baffle my mind and throw something new into it that I haven’t seen.

This was an easy 5 star read and a debut novel as well. I’m looking forward to future reads from Emma Dues.

Very atmospheric and eerie. Excellent characters. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

What a great book. Kept me guessing right to the end, the author had me on the edge of my seat, feeling the sense of fear and paranoia along with the characters. Fast paced and a very enjoyable read.

I really enjoyed the dual timelines, the suspense, and the slow unravelling of the secrets that Margot was keeping.

I did feel like the ending was a bit anticlimactic, but overall the story was good and I was eager to continue reading.

A gruesome massacre, few survivors and a traumatised, unreliable MC make for a fast paced thriller in “Return to Midnight”.

I loved the 2 different timelines as a way to build tension, I kept turning pages to find out Margot’s secrets. This had so many twists and turns that I didn’t see coming, just when you think it’s done, there are more surprises! I was grateful for my newborns nighttime feeds so I could have more time to progress through the story 😅.

Set for release August 27th and I definitely think it’s worth the read!

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the ARC!

You don’t need to wait for the sun to rise to finish reading Return To Midnight as this book is a page-turner; you will hardly notice you’ve reached the end. Considering that from start to finish, this book lives up to its genre — it’s a thriller. Oh, how I love how everything feels so direct, without giving away too much. This book has truly made me love unreliable narrators even more. The narration is so good that everything in my imagination feels so vivid. It beautifully aligns with Margot’s character as a writer.

She may have been struggling because of her past, but her narration makes her so easy to hear and understand. I can’t even dislike her for her moments of weakness and fearfulness as they are defeated by her grit to face what’s haunting her, and her devotion to hold the barre and the pen despite everything. It’s wild how someone can be so powerless yet so strong and brave at the same time.

This book also delves into two timelines, and Margot is sufficient to explain what transpired during those times. She has introduced her friends effectively that if there really is a person who deserves to give voices to them, it should be Margot and Margot only. I am honestly impressed with how Emma Dues breathed life into Margot’s character. Although there were parts of the book where I was able to predict what could have happened, I counted it as a fulfillment for going along Margot’s journey to discovering the truth.

And I still can’t get over the final arc! This is truly a fantastic read. Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this ARC!

As an avid horror fan, the premise of this novel quickly caught my eye. A gruesome massacre with unreliable survivors with past and present point of views? Count me in!

Margot decides to revisit one of the worst moments of her life to recount her side of events. The problem is - is she telling the truth? Someone out there knows and Margot begins to receive threats as suspicions rise. I found myself not trusting Margot, but wanting to.

Emma Dues does an incredible job transitioning between present and past events. I've found that some books like this become confusing and difficult to keep up with. That wasn't the case here, as it was done so well that it created the perfect level of suspense. In fact, the suspense was built so well that the ending was a slight let down as I was hoping for a more grand reveal. That said, it didn't take away from the story and was well worth the time invested to read this.

I really enjoyed this story. Margot was a great main character, and I kept turning the pages, wanting to know what secrets she was keeping. The ending was filled with twists and turns and felt cinematic. I’m looking forward to reading more from Emma.