Book Review: The Midnight Feast | Lucy Foley

This is a spoiler-free review of Lucy Foley’s The Midnight Feast. If you are looking to unpack the book and have that ending explained, head over to my spoiler-review of The Midnight Feast where I get into everything and talk about that juicy ending!

Lucy Foley’s books are best sellers for a reason, with The Guest List being a smash success (and a Reese’s Book Club Pick!). Foley is a master of building out a compelling setting, and each is unique from the prior book.

Pitched to her editor as “Soho farmhouse meets The Wicker Man”, The Midnight Feast is a genre-bending folk horror mystery that is set at a luxury retreat called The Manor nestled in fairy-tale-worthy woodlands. Foley has described her stays at lovely rural hotels as the inspiration for the setting:

“From the spa in the orangery to the ‘woodland hutches’ with outdoor roll top baths, to the signature cocktails served in a bougied-up woodland glade, the architectural feat of a swimming pool perched atop the cliffs.”

Despite the vast nature surrounding The Manor, there is a claustrophobic feel to the story as tension mounts and the reader recognizes how isolated the characters are at the retreat. Let’s get into it!

What is The Midnight Feast about?

Secrets. Lies. Murder. Let the festivities begin…

It’s the opening night of The Manor, and no expense, small or large, has been spared. The infinity pool sparkles; crystal pouches for guests’ healing have been placed in the Seaside Cottages and Woodland Hutches; 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 the Sunday morning of opening weekend, the local police are called. Something’s not right with the guests. There’s been a fire. A body’s been discovered.

The Founder, the Husband, the Mystery Guest, the Kitchen Help…

It all began with a secret, fifteen years ago. Now the past has crashed the party. And it’ll end in murder at the Midnight Feast. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

What did I think?

Foley has a few signatures to her storytelling that always come together beautifully. The first is, of course, a fantastic setting. The second is the use of multiple narrators to piece the mystery together (often including an unknown narrator whose identity is later revealed). The third is a sense of isolation—whether physically, socially, or both. Finally, there is always a bit of lore woven through. All of these elements are used in The Midnight Feast, and the element of lore was arguably the most prominent of any of her books to date.

Described as “folk horror”, this mystery brings together classic genre elements—a rural setting, folklore, isolation, and the darkness of nature. Some may consider this a slow burn, but I found that the rotating narrators kept the story moving forward for me, as I never spent too long on any one character or scene. I thought this kept pace with her other books, though the mystery does pick up steam about halfway through when the past storyline came together with what was happening in the present.

The books revolves around the grand opening of The Manor, a woodland luxury resort owned and managed by a woman named Francesca (aka, The Founder). The Manor is built on what was once Francesca’s coastal family estate. She hired an architect named Owen to do the design work on the resort, and eventually Francesca and Owen married (aka, The Husband). In addition to Francesca and Owen, the narrators include a guest at the grand opening named Bella (aka, The Mystery Guest) and a staff member named Eddie (aka, The Kitchen Help).

The book opens with news of a murder, but then moves back to the opening night (as well as to events that occurred in 2010 told through journal entries). How everything will come together is unknown until later. The grand opening of The Manor had an ominous feel to it, and Bella’s presence was a puzzle. Who exactly was Bella and why is she being so cagey? The reader knows that Bella is spending at the top of her means, but we aren’t sure why she’s there and what her agenda might be.

I found this to be an atmospheric story, full of tension and beautiful but creepy settings. The folklore is subtly but distinctly woven through the book. I didn’t find the story slow at all, but I know some readers (especially who prefer American thrillers) may want a few more shocks and blindsides. That is not Foley’s style and to me this type of well-crafted mystery is even more compelling.

I have more to discuss but I’m going to take those thoughts over in the spoiler review so I can dig deeper into the twists, reveals, and the ending!

Thank you to William Morrow for my copy. Opinions are my own.