The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley

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ðŸ•Ŋ️ The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley

Bird cults, rich people drama, and mushroom-fueled secrets.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3 out of 5 stars)

⚠️ SPOILER WARNING!
This review contains spoilers for The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley. If you haven’t read it and want to go in blind, bookmark this and come back later! Otherwise, let’s dig into the feathers and the flames.

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ðŸŒē Welcome to The Manor

It’s opening weekend at The Manor, a posh, influencer-approved eco-hotel perched on a coastal cliff. The owner, Francesca Meadows, has big plans to rebrand herself as a “wellness goddess” with a dark streak.

But three days after the big launch?
ðŸ”Ĩ The hotel is on fire.
💀 Two people are dead.
ðŸŠķ And someone keeps whispering about The Birds.

📚 First, the Main Cast (Because You’ll Need a Guide)

  • Francesca Meadows – Influencer-turned-hotelier. Deadly secrets, deadlier mushrooms.

  • Owen Dacre – Her architect husband. Formerly known as “Shrimp.” Secretly poor.

  • Bella (aka Alison / Sparrow) – A woman returning to the site of a traumatic summer 15 years ago. She’s not here for the spa.

  • Eddie – Dishwasher at the hotel. Local farm boy. Brother of Jake, who went missing years ago.

  • Jake – Eddie’s older brother, presumed dead. Plot twist: he’s very much alive.

  • Michelle – Hotel manager. Knows too much. Possibly the most competent person in this book.

  • Detectives Walker & Heyer – Investigating the fire and the growing pile of secrets.

  • Nathan Tate – Local bad boy, Francesca’s rival, son of the late Graham Tate (who once saved Eddie’s dad from suicide). He’s furious about Francesca trying to buy up his late father’s caravan park, and he's about to go full chaotic evil.

📖 What Happened at the Midnight Feast?

Let’s break this down in something approaching chronological order, because this book doesn’t.

ðŸĶ 15 Years Ago: The First Midnight Feast

Teenage Alison (Bella) is on summer holiday at a caravan park. She meets Francesca (then “Frankie”), who’s rich, mysterious, and manipulative.

Frankie invites Bella to a Midnight Feast at The Manor. There, she meets:

  • Hugo & Oscar – Francesca’s creepy twin brothers

  • Cora – Older teen girl, chill one, friends with Frankie

  • Jake – Eddie’s brother and Bella’s love interest

  • Shrimp – A local kid (later revealed to be Owen)

Bella gives Frankie some wild mushrooms (not knowing how toxic they are), and that same night, Cora dies under suspicious circumstances. Bella finds Frankie standing over her body. 

Frankie later claims she was “just bored” and planted all the bird stuff around town to mess with people.

After Cora’s death:

  • Jake disappears, his moped found near a cliff

  • Bella hides her journal with a map inside, of where she believes Cora was buried

Flash forward to…

🕰️ Present Day: Welcome to the Chaos

🎉 Opening Night

The Manor opens. Francesca is ready for a new era of zen luxury. The locals? Not thrilled. Tension brews between her and the town—especially Nathan, who now owns the caravan park that Francesca wants to buy and bulldoze.

There’s also Bella, returning under a fake name, on a mission to confront the past and find the truth for her daughter, Grace.

And there’s Eddie, Jake’s little brother, now a farmhand and hotel dishwasher, whose missing bull, Ivor, will become relevant in a very disturbing way.

🐂 Cults, Cider, and Skeletons

  • Bella discovers her old journal and map from that long-ago summer.

  • Eddie stumbles upon cultists in bird masks, dancing around the severed head of Ivor the bull. Yikes.

  • Michelle blackmails Owen, reveals she knows he’s Shrimp, and also that Francesca burned down a pub as a teen.

  • Owen finds a skeleton buried near The Manor, and based on a chipped tooth, realizes it's his mother, Cora (!!!).

  • Francesca pretends to be shocked. (She is not shocked.)

  • Bella confronts Francesca and shows her the journal. Francesca? Starts unraveling.

🍷 Meanwhile, at the Midnight Feast…

Nathan, who’s angry about Francesca trying to take the caravan park, spikes the cider with hallucinogens. Everyone at the feast starts acting wild. Francesca thinks she sees The Birds, again.

Michelle and the twins disappear to the wine cellar. The next day, Hugo and Oscar are found dead, trapped inside during the fire.

Owen has a full breakdown when he realizes Francesca killed his mom. Francesca sees the hotel burning, sees someone in a bird costume, and — in a panic — throws a lantern into the gasoline. BOOM. Hotel goes up in flames.

🚗 Francesca’s Final Moments

  • Francesca jumps into Owen’s car and tries to flee.

  • She crashes it near the cliff.

  • While running from the bird-costumed figure (it’s Eddie), she falls to her death.

  • Eddie, it turns out, borrowed his mom’s cult robe to help scare her.

  • Francesca’s death is ruled an accident... but the locals say it was The Birds.

ðŸ”Ĩ Where Did We Land?

  • Owen inherits the smoldering ruins of The Manor.

  • Jake (aka Detective Walker) reveals he orchestrated Francesca’s downfall:

    • Got Owen hired

    • Sent Bella the press clippings

    • Wanted revenge for what happened to Cora and himself

  • Eddie is hailed as a hero for saving guests from the fire

  • Jake reunites with his family, and Bella, Jake, and Eddie reflect on the past — and what justice really looks like

💎 Final Thoughts

Lucy Foley is queen of the moody murder mystery. The setting is rich, the writing is vivid, and the vibes are immaculate. But The Midnight Feast throws a lot at you:

Too many characters, timelines, and secrets. I love a slow-burn mystery, but this one occasionally crosses into full confusion territory.

The Good:

  • Gothic atmosphere? ✅

  • Creepy cult rituals? ✅

  • Symbolic birds? Absolutely everywhere. ✅

The Not-So-Good:

  • Needed a family tree, flowchart, and some Dramamine.

  • Too many twists for a single book.

  • The mystery sometimes gets lost in the over-complication.

Final rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3 out of 5 stars.

📚 If You Liked The Midnight Feast, Try:

  • The Guest List by Lucy Foley – her best “stormy secrets at a fancy venue” book

  • The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley – another snowed-in drama with murder and mean people

  • The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse – creepy Alpine resort with buried secrets

  • The Cloisters by Katy Hays – cult-ish academia and ancient symbolism done better

🛒 Want to Read It?

📖 Buy on Amazon

🧠 TL;DR

  • The Manor opens.

  • People get high on spiked cider.

  • Cult robes and bird masks.

  • Old secrets buried (literally).

  • Francesca falls off a cliff.

  • The legend of The Birds lives on.

Honestly? This would make a great Netflix miniseries. Just… maybe give us some name tags next time, Lucy.

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