Published in 2024 by William Morrow, Foley’s book is available on Amazon in hardcover, paperback, Kindle, and audiobook, as well as at your local library and through the Libby app.

Foley knits together secrets, lies, and murder during the opening weekend of the Manor, a luxury estate-hotel-resort in Dorset, England. Guests have access to seaside cottages and woodland hutches, but the Estate was built over a secret buried fifteen years ago. Now the past is here to crash the party.

Francesca Woodland, also known as Frankie, owns the Estate her grandfather passed down to her. She reinvented herself with a facade of priestess-like purity, abandoning her nickname and adopting her full name. Her younger husband, aspiring architect Owen, has secrets of his own. Another name from another life: Shrimp.

Alison, also known as Sparrow or Bella, is determined to confront the tragedy she survived fifteen years ago. It is time for the truth to come to light and justice to fall. Enter DI Walker, a cold case detective called to the Estate when bodies turn up. Every character in Foley’s book seems to have reinvented themselves, wearing their old identities as a more sophisticated version or as camouflage, DI Walker included.

Foley’s incorporation of the folklore legend of the Birds blends into the central mystery, in which locals fight for justice against the ultra-rich invaders. She adds touches of Hitchcock’s classic film “The Birds.” The book switches from the present day to a summer fifteen years ago through journal entries. The summer journal draws readers in beautifully. The Midnight Feast hosted at the Manor is the catalyst when the past crashes with the present, and the long-ago secrets are uncovered. A family is reunited. Folklore legend becomes tangible.

Foley’s descriptive narrative, the tension she builds, and the characters’ emotional upheavals from teen jealousy and superstitious hijinks to adult retribution and conviction make this a 3-star read.