The Midnight Feast

I am already a dedicated Lucy Foley fan so I am so happy to have received The Midnight Feast from Netgalley. I have enjoyed all of Foley’s books thus far, but her previous release The Paris Apartment was not my fave. Foley has bounced back spectacularly in The Midnight Feast. As usual, her characters are complex and compelling, especially the unlikeable ones.

The Midnight Feast explores class in a rural small town setting. The seeds of the story are in a summer vacation 15 years previous and are threatening to derail the careful rebrand of The Manor. The setting and the characters felt so true to life I tensed in apprehension of being pitched an MLM. I could practically smell the oregano oil.

Foley has crafted the environment cleverly so you can see the “twists” if you pay attention. This book has everything: creepy secluded setting, ominous cliffs, a secret society, and an entitled influencer. The “villain” is obvious but their trajectory is compelling even without the “surprise” – we all know someone like this, though hopefully with less murder. The rest of the cast of characters are also deeply flawed and engage in plenty of shady behavior to keep you guessing. Nothing is too obvious so the story does not feel cartoonish.

If I had had the time to finish this book in one or two sittings (and if my Kindle weren’t slowly dying of old age), I would have.