Once upon a time, a girl named Frankie lived with her two brothers and their grandparents at a rural manor house along the Dorset coast. She was lonely and maybe a little bored, so she amused herself by taking local girls under her wing, showing them a good time while allowing them to marvel at her wealth. Until something went horribly awry.

Fast forward more than a decade, and Frankie is all grown up. She now goes by Francesca and is a well-known lifestyle influencer. After she inherited the manor, she started envisioning the property as an exclusive retreat and spa, catering to the uber-wealthy from London and around the world. Helped by her husband Owen, an internationally renowned architect, Francesca has made her vision a reality. Now, as the summer solstice approaches, she's preparing to welcome her first group of guests to the property.

"[T]he summer solstice season is the ideal time to read THE MIDNIGHT FEAST, but the good news is that it will keep you up at night no matter how many hours of daylight there are."

But not everyone is entirely happy to see Francesca and Owen's little project come to light. The locals, for example, resent that she's exercising her property rights over the abutting beach and areas of the neighboring forest. Nineteen-year-old Eddie, who's been hired at the resort as a dishwasher, comes from the farm down the road and sees this dynamic firsthand, even though he has his own aspirations to move up and become a bartender. And then there's Bella, the only single guest at this exclusive event catering to couples. She has her own reasons for checking in to the resort, which date back to when she and Frankie were both girls.

THE MIDNIGHT FEAST, like Lucy Foley’s other bestselling novels, unfolds through a complicated narrative structure. Bella, Francesca, Owen and Eddie trade off points of view, and their stories leading up to the over-the-top solstice feast of the title are interspersed with the perspective of a police inspector, who arrives the day after the solstice after being alerted to a horrific crime scene near the property. Add to this pages from a diary that shed light on a tragic past summer, and you have a twisty narrative that will keep readers both unsettled and longing to know more.

False identities, secrets and plans for revenge abound. Even if readers guess one or more of the mysteries, they surely will be surprised by others. Adding an extra layer of mystery and menace is the presence of large, seemingly supernatural bird-like figures, and the ominous trails of dead birds, feathers and other markings that seem to be left in their wake. These birds are, according to locals, as much a part of the area as the beach or the forest --- and they seem to hint at ancient magic endemic to this myth-laden part of England.

Obviously, the summer solstice season is the ideal time to read THE MIDNIGHT FEAST, but the good news is that it will keep you up at night no matter how many hours of daylight there are.