Catherine Raynes: The Midnight Feast and Southern Man

The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley 

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.

But under the burning midsummer sun, darkness stirs. Old friends and enemies circulate among the guests. Just outside the Manor’s immaculately kept grounds, an ancient forest bristles with secrets. And the Sunday morning of opening weekend, the local police are called. Something’s not right with the guests. There’s been a fire. A body’s been discovered.

THE FOUNDER * THE HUSBAND * THE MYSTERY GUEST * THE KITCHEN HELP

It all began with a secret, fifteen years ago. Now the past has crashed the party. And it’ll end in murder at… The Midnight Feast.

 

Southern Man by Greg Iles  

Fifteen years after the events of the Natchez Burning trilogy, Penn Cage is alone. Nearly all his loved ones are dead, and his old allies gone. Pursued by enemies and demoralized by a divided community, he's found sanctuary on a former cotton plantation above the Mississippi River. But Penn's self-imposed exile comes to an abrupt end when a brawl at a Bienville rap concert triggers a shooting - one that nearly takes the life of his daughter Annie.

Before the stunned city can process the tragedy, an arsonist starts torching antebellum plantation homes in Natchez and Bienville. When an unknown Black radical group claims the deadly fires as acts of historic justice, citywide panic ensues, driving a prosperous Southern town to the brink of race war. Drafted by Bienville's mayor to end the crisis and restore peace, Penn investigates the fires as casualties mount and armed marchers move toward a decisive clash.

But Penn suspects that the arson attacks may not be what they seem - not retribution by radicals, but false-flag strikes designed to trigger the very chaos he sees roiling the streets. For that mayhem provides state and county leaders the excuse to dissolve the Black-run Bienville city government and seize control. It's up to Penn and a band of locals to uncover the truth and expose those trying to destabilize the city.

 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack team podcast
from News Talks at B.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Two very different books to recommend this morning with our
book reviewer Katherine Rains. So I feel looking for something
good to read. Catherine is here now, Hey, Catherine, Morning Jack.
Let's begin with The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley. So
this story is.

Speaker 3 (00:27):
Told from multiple perspectives, and those perspectives lead to feeling
all the drama and twists, and the story itself centers
around the manner this very ultra luxurious estate and Dorset
in the UK, and it's designed to provide this escape
for its very privileged guest. And it's owned by this
woman called Francesca Woodland who hides very dark secrets under
the sort of veneer of priestesst likeness. And she's set

(00:51):
to host this memorable summer Solster Feast. And her husband
is an aspiring art architect called Owen, and he's kind
of enchanted by this dream of facade that she and
the illusion that she's created about herself, and he's got
his own very dark secrets and about his past that
could threaten their future together. And then as the summer
solstice starts to take place her Farranchesca's plans are disrupted

(01:14):
by this mystery guest from her past, a woman called
Baala who's determined to confront a tragedy in her life.
And there's this young kitchen hand Eddie who finds himself
caught between the locals who're certing seeking retribution against the
Manner's guests and his dedication to his new job and
his dysfunctional family, so ort to get all these different
points of views are heard, and their reasons for being
at the Manner are revealed, and this veneer of opulent

(01:36):
tranquility begins to crack, and chapter by chapter and person
by person, and this tide of animosity among the locals
who have been very unhappy because their lives have been
cut off from the ancient forest and access to the beach,
and it's the hottest summer on record, and so you
just find yourself hooked and turning the pages faster to
find out exactly who's happening and why.

Speaker 2 (01:55):
Very good. Okay, that's The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foldley.
You've also read Southern Man by Greg Isles.

Speaker 3 (02:01):
So this is a real political thriller and it takes
this very deep look at racial tent in the small
Mississippi town called Bennionville, and there's been long simmering racial
grievances and they ignite when these white sheriff deputaries recklessly
open fire during a hip hop festival and attended my
mostly young blacks and killing several and wounding war including

(02:24):
a woman that's one of the main characters, pen Cage.
She's hurt and shot, and it becomes known as the
Mission Hill massacre. And these demonstrations start to take over
the city and protest and the National Guards there and
homes are torched and a black mirror is beaten. And
at the center of this is a character called pen Cage,
who's an attorney who quit practicing so that he could

(02:46):
spend his time writing. And his mother, Peggy, is dying
of cancer and his daughter Annie, who was the girl
that got shot at the hip hop festival, And so
all of this controversy intermo and in then amongst that,
as well as this other character called Robert E. Lee White,
and he's the Southern War hero who seizes the public
imagination as a third party presidential candidate, and he's done
with the TikTok and it's really became famous first, and

(03:08):
he's backed by this very eccentric Mississippi billinaire, and he's
writing the glory of his special Forces record, and he's
taking this massively unprecedented run at the White House, and
he has this plan that is interesting to say the least.
And so you get this story rippling with racial tension
and all sorts of things that are going on, and

(03:29):
this candidate and the burning plantations and the subplot and
some very despicable characters with no legal or ethical boundaries
and this just deteriorating situation. And the book's over nine
hundred pages, so you got a lot of story. But
you find yourself very caught up in this and it
takes you into the depths of this Mississippi town and
makes you think and question things. And it's very well written,

(03:53):
and even though it's a doorstop of a book, you
do find yourself very engrossed in the story. And I
didn't mind that it was over nine hundred ages. I
did mind that it's kind of hard to hold, but
I didn't mind that it's such a.

Speaker 2 (04:06):
It's interesting here, so and and yeah, nine hundred pages
does seem like a lot, but yeah, that's fantastic. He's
an interesting guy, Gregyles, because he's I think he lives
in Mississippi. Could be wrong there, but I think he
lives born, maybe not born, but certainly raised in Mississippi.
But he's in this. There's this literary musical group I'm
not sure if you've ever come across them, I haven't,

(04:27):
called the rock Bottom Remainders, and it's just like it's
like just literary figures from the US men who get together.
I know, not just men. I've just googled them. Amy
Tans in there as well. So a group of literary figures,
including the likes of Stephen King and Matt Groening, who
you know made The Simpsons. So they are, yeah, apparently.

Speaker 3 (04:49):
A very cliquic group of people.

Speaker 2 (04:52):
Yeah. So they called the rock Bottom Remainders or the Remainders,
and I think they get together and like do some
charity stuff, you know. But anyway, it's just it's one
of those kind of funny things. But I recognized Greg
Ays as one of the members of that. So there
you go. Random fact for your weekend, Catherine, Thank you
for the box those recommendations. Once again. Southern Man by

(05:12):
Greg Isles is that big nine hundred pager, The Thriller
set in Mississippi And The Midnight Feast with Catherine's First
Pick that's by Lucy Foley. Both of them will be
at Newstalk SHADB dot co dot nz if you want
to go and track one down.

Speaker 1 (05:27):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen live
to Newstalks dB from nine am Saturday, or follow the
podcast on iHeartRadio