The Midnight Feast

Foley’s scintillating latest (after The Paris Apartment) centers on the grand opening of a resort in the English village of Tome. Francesca Meadows, who summered in Tome as a child, has teamed with her celebrity architect husband, Owen Dacre, to build an ultra-chic retreat called the Manor. Their plans have angered some locals, who believe the Manor will encroach on sacred woodlands populated, according to folklore, by supernatural creatures known as the Birds. Despite protests, the Manor opens its doors for a summer solstice celebration. Attendees include Francesca’s twin brothers, Hugo and Oscar, and Bella Springfield, a mysterious woman who seems to know Francesca from her childhood visits to the village. In the run-up to the opening celebration’s marquee event, a bacchanalian midnight feast, the guests’ past connections and secret motives come to light. The next morning, a dead body is discovered on the resort’s grounds, and a question hangs in the air: is there a killer in the Manor’s midst, or have the Birds taken their revenge? While keeping track of the book’s five different narrators can be challenging, the chilling folk horror atmosphere and sucker-punch surprises more than compensate for any temporary confusion. Readers are in for a grisly treat. Agent: Alexandra Machinist, CAA. (June)