Police procedural set in WARWICKSHIRE (with added AI)
Thriller set on the DORSET coast
7th June 2024
The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley, thriller set on the DORSET coast.
AUDIOBOOK narrated by
Welcome to the opening weekend of the Manor, “the hottest new rural getaway” run by Francesca Meadows, who inherited and upgraded the family seat. No expense spared, everything on tap, the whole enterprise underpinned by a holistic and wellness ethos. Her endeavours have caused quite a stir in the local community.
It is the Summer Solstice 2025. The novel has hardly opened and we go back to events in 2010, when Frankie (Francesca) was a bored and insufferable teenager, entertaining newly acquired ‘friends’ from the locality. She was forced to spend Summers with her grandparents in Dorset at their stately home, now “The Manor”, whilst her mother was elsewhere doing her thing. We meet people and have insight into events at that time, which somehow filter into the here and now.
Francesca was an unpalatable young woman then and is only more so, in 2025. She is married to the architect who redesigned the family pile, and as the years have passed, she has become even more unpleasant, nay nasty. Unbeknownst to her staff and guests, she has installed spy cameras around the building, so she can monitor all the comings and goings. She has a wonderfully honed public image, particularly in the press and on Social Media, but we are privy to her excoriating thoughts on life and the people who surround her. Snob doesn’t even cover it when it comes to the local yokels; it’s fascinating to hear her stream of consciousness, the author must have had such fun creating her.
We know early on, too, that something devastating happens to the whole set up (a clue is on the book cover ) but exactly what and why is, of course, withheld until late into the story. There are plenty of secrets to be spilled. We understand that the folklore around these parts is strong and there seem to be warnings about ‘the birds‘. The “witches and weirdness’ of the locale, Francesca feels, can be sidelined by her brand of big city, 5* spirituality … but can it?
I listened to this as an audiobook and thought the various narrators did an excellent job in their different capacities. And I was really keen to get back to the narrative after a break so that I could catch up with the dark deeds taking place in the community, which is always a good sign. A good poolside read for Summer 2024.
Tina for the TripFiction Team
Catch the author on Twitter X @lucefoleytweets
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