Features:
- Locked room murder mystery set in England with a dose of local folklore
- A toxic friendship and other secrets of the past come to haunt the present
- Explores themes of class as well as the social tension between luxury resorts and the communities they are placed in.
- Told from multiple perspectives with short chapters
Right after opening, the new luxury resort called The Manor burns to the ground with bodies in its ashes. Many mysteries surround The Manor and its dark history but one thing is certain; owner Francesca Meadows did not keep the Birds happy. This locked room murder mystery is a fun read, but definitely not one of Foley’s best. The Midnight Feast is told from multiple perspectives and jumps between the day leading up to the fire, the investigation, and diary entries recording events that occurred 15 years prior. Everything is tied together in satisfying ways and it is paced very well, but it just wasn’t a standout for me. This book has great summer reading vibes and is an easy dip into this genre. However, readers who get overwhelmed by a large cast of characters and/or avid readers or the genre looking for a big surprise probably should avoid this read.
Pro: Intriguing setup
The Manor is Francesca’s dream finally made a reality. She has turned the land she has inherited into a luxury wellness resort with no expenses spared. However, not everyone is pleased with the resort’s opening. Between the townsfolk who Francesca has plowed over to achieve her vision, a dark past she has tried to bury, and her dismissal of the Birds, Francesca has plenty of enemies lurking in the shadows. It is no surprise when The Manor comes burning down right after its open, but the question remains: who is responsible?
This book is very atmospheric and has an intriguing setup. From the very beginning, Foley does a phenomenal job showing the opulent atmosphere of the manor and how at odds it is with the world around it. Not only is it closed off to the locals, but the forest around it even seems to reject its presence. This story does a great job highlighting the negative impact resorts like The Manor can have on the communities around them and the tension created when very different worlds clash. One of the character’s through whom’s perspective the story is told, Eddie, finds himself in the middle of that clash and I found his chapters the most compelling as the story moved forward. There is definitely a lot of missed potential overall, but I was really intrigued by what this story tries to do.
The Breakdown: Told in snapshots
This story is told from 5 main perspectives. Though this can be a lot to follow, the perspective only changes at the end of a chapter and it is clear who it is switching to for the next one. As a result, each chapter is pretty short and we are able to see what is happening in different places at the same time. Because the time span of the present storyline is very short, I think switching the perspective really helps with pacing and provides a lot of detail in a way that feels natural. It also makes the time jumps easy to follow when they occur as well. However, I think this structure also hinders some of the storytelling.
The short length of each chapter makes them feel like snapshots into these characters’ experiences that we then have to piece together. Where this provides a lot of information about what is happening plot wise, it seems to limit the ability to develop other story elements. For example, the characters tend to stick to a given archetype in a way that almost makes them seem like caricatures at times. Part of this is simply that the character has to establish themselves very quickly, so they repeat certain ideas and actions that are the touch points of their archetype and don’t quite have enough time to grow from there before the chapter ends. There are clearly pieces we learn as the story progresses, but there is very little subtlety that makes the characters feel unique and ‘real’. In a similar fashion, we don’t get to engage deeply with some of the interesting themes this story presents. In all, I think having a little more time with each character and seeing them interact beyond their direct circles more would have helped flesh out this story better.
Special thank to NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Rowan Hill 