The Midnight Feast is another suspenseful winner from author Lucy Foley. The novel tells the story of a newly renovated posh hotel on the English coast that is plagued by locals and mysterious birds during their opening, with both disastrous and amusing results.

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I’ll start with a quick summary of The Midnight Feast.

Haughty Francesca has returned to her ancestral home with her architect husband, Owen, to turn it into a luxury seaside resort. Her big moment begins with the opening of the hotel, when she expects all the guests to be amazed by her beauty and taste, especially during the capstone event – a pagan-inspired party she dubs “The Midnight Feast.”

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But the opening is made less fabulous by some of the local townspeople, who are angry that Francesca has prohibited them from accessing the beach and forest surrounding the hotel. The locals make a bit of a scene early in the story, and then strange things begin to happen in the woods.

Francesca has had a deep disdain for the town’s residents dating back to when she was a teenager. However, she has hired some locals as staff primarily because it’s good for appearances sake. She doesn’t realize that one of her employees holds a long-time grudge and another was impacted by her teenage treachery.

She also doesn’t realize that one of the guests is an acquaintance from her past until she’s surprised by an encounter at breakfast. Bella, whom Francesca condescendingly called “Sparrow” when they were teenagers, is there with an agenda driven by a past event. The reason she wants to confront Francesca is gradually revealed through flashbacks.

Francesca’s dreadful true self begins to emerge as her false, new age, organic facade starts to crack when things don’t go according to her plans. It all comes to a head at The Midnight Feast, which features drinks spiked with magic mushrooms, a large, burning effigy, local gate crashers, and large, menacing birds. This scene is wildly entertaining!

I’m glad I chose the audio version of The Midnight Feast because the readers are fantastic! The story is told from the perspectives of four different characters, and – yay! – four different people read their parts. This means women didn’t have to attempt male voices, and vice versa. In addition, the readers, especially those who voice the parts of Francesca and Owen, add a lot of value to the experience. I’m not sure I would have enjoyed the written version as much.

Interesting characters, secrets from the past, local myths and, of course, mushroom induced revelry all make The Midnight Feast a highly entertaining story. I think fans of suspense will enjoy it.

If you have read The Midnight Feast, what did you think?

And for another terrific novel by Lucy Foley, check out my review of The Guest List.