Foley, Lucy

It's the opening night of The Manor, and no expense, small or large, has been spared. The infinity pool sparkles; crystal pouches for guests' healing have been placed in the Seaside Cottages and Woodland Hutches; the "Manor Mule" cocktail (grapefruit, ginger, vodka, and a dash of CBD oil) is being poured with a heavy hand. Everyone is wearing linen. And yet, outside The Manor's immaculately kept grounds, and ancient forest bristles with secrets. The local community resents what they see as the Manor's intrusion into the local woods and attempts to privatize the beach, and small skirmishes have erupted on the edges of the property between locals and the staff. And the whispers keep coming, about an old piece of pagan folklore--it must be folklore--the Night Birds, an avenging force that can be called upon to make right wrongs that elude the law. Though surely everything at the Manor has been done aboveboard. On the Sunday morning of opening weekend, the local police are called. There's been a fire. A body's been discovered. Something's not right with the guests. What happened on the grounds of the Manor the past 36 hours? And who--or what--is the cause? Everyone has an agenda. Everyone has a past. But not everyone will survive...The Midnight Feast.

A group of Oxford graduates in their thirties, continuing a tradition they began ten years ago, meet for Christmas break at an isolated, beautiful estate in the Scottish Highlands. A historic blizzard seals off their lodge from the world, and two days later one of the classmates is dead--and one of the other ones did it. Secret resentments come to light and the cord holding the friends together snaps.

"Jess needs a fresh start. She's broke and alone, and she's just left her job under less than ideal circumstances. Her half-brother Ben didn't sound thrilled when she asked if she could crash with him for a bit, but he didn't say no, and surely everything will look better from Paris. Only when she shows up . . . he's not there. The longer Ben stays missing, the more Jess starts to dig into her brother's situation, and the more questions she has. Ben's neighbors are an eclectic bunch, and not particularly friendly. . . . Jess may have come to Paris to escape her past, but it's starting to look like it's Ben's future that's in question"--OCLC.

"On an island off the coast of Ireland, guests gather to celebrate two people joining their lives together as one. The groom: handsome and charming, a rising television star. The bride: smart and ambitious, a magazine publisher. It's a wedding for a magazine, or for a celebrity: the designer dress, the remote location, the luxe party favors, the boutique whiskey. The cell phone service may be spotty and the waves may be rough, but every detail has been expertly planned and will be expertly executed. But perfection is for plans, and people are all too human. As the champagne is popped and the festivities begin, resentments and petty jealousies begin to mingle with the reminiscences and well wishes. The groomsmen begin the drinking game from their school days. The bridesmaid not-so-accidentally ruins her dress. The bride's oldest (male) friend gives an uncomfortably caring toast. And then someone turns up dead. Who didn't wish the happy couple well? And perhaps more important, why?" --audiobook container.

"On an island off the coast of Ireland, guests gather to celebrate two people joining their lives together as one. The groom: handsome and charming, a rising television star. The bride: smart and ambitious, a magazine publisher. It's a wedding for a magazine, or for a celebrity: the designer dress, the remote location, the luxe party favors, the boutique whiskey. The cell phone service may be spotty and the waves may be rough, but every detail has been expertly planned and will be expertly executed. But perfection is for plans, and people are all too human. As the champagne is popped and the festivities begin, resentments and petty jealousies begin to mingle with the reminiscences and well wishes. The groomsmen begin the drinking game from their school days. The bridesmaid not-so-accidentally ruins her dress. The bride's oldest (male) friend gives an uncomfortably caring toast. And then someone turns up dead. Who didn't wish the happy couple well? And perhaps more important, why?"--Provided by publisher.

"During the languid days of the Christmas break, a group of friends from Oxford meet to welcome in the New Year together, a tradition they began as students ten years ago. They arrive at an idyllic estate in the Scottish Highlands on December 30th, just before a historic blizzard seals the lodge off from the outside world. Two days later, one of them is dead, and another of them did it"--OCLC.