Lucy Foley writes mysteries for readers who love a setting full of secrets and a group of people who cannot quite trust one another. Hearing her at a crime festival offers a chance to follow that pleasure beyond the page, into conversations about suspense and the detective tradition.
Quick facts
Best known for
The Guest List, The Hunting Party and The Midnight Feast
Foley’s writing includes contemporary murder mysteries and earlier historical novels. Her books have reached an international readership, with The Midnight Feast among the contemporary titles. Before writing full-time, she worked as a fiction editor in publishing. That working background sits beside a career spent shaping mysteries from a setting and the people brought together within it.
HarperCollins published Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel in 2026. The novel brings Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple to the Swiss Alps, placing a familiar detective in a new mystery. For a reader who loves Christie as well as Foley’s modern suspense, that makes a natural bridge between two shelves of crime fiction.
A live discussion can appeal because you want to hear about a clue you missed, because a place felt so vivid, or because the characters kept changing your mind. Keep the pleasures of the unfinished book for yourself if you wish: a festival visit can begin with the writing you already know, while the next mystery waits in your bag.
Fans who enjoy comparing crime writers can also make a day of the festival itself, using Foley’s conversation as the centre and leaving room for another novelist whose approach to suspense is different. A familiar favourite can be the beginning of a new reading discovery.
Where to start with their books
The Hunting Party
Old friends meet for New Year in a remote Scottish hunting lodge, where one of them becomes a murder victim. Begin here if you enjoy friendships under pressure and the tension of a group shut away from the outside world.
The Guest List
A wedding on an island off the Irish coast brings old grudges and hidden jealousies together before a guest is found dead. This is a starting point for readers who like a celebration turning sinister and a cast with reasons to hide the truth.
The Paris Apartment
A young woman arrives in Paris to visit her brother and discovers that he is missing; his neighbours are watchful and unwelcoming. Choose this if a building full of guarded doors and competing stories is your ideal setting for a mystery.
Festival appearances
For tickets, use the host festival’s official box office. Confirm the date, venue and access details before paying.
Lucy Foley’s 2026 programme included Denise Mina Presents: Lucy Foley at Bloody Scotland.
Where to see them next
No 2027 appearances announced yet. Check the festival guides for programme dates.
Plan your trip
If you are joining a Big Read, leave time to finish the book first if you want to discuss its surprises freely. For a shared outing, compare your guesses with your companion before the conversation, then talk about what changed afterwards.
Treat your chosen session as the anchor of the day and leave a break around it. The guides below help with the train, an overnight base and the rest of the festival, so a mystery-filled weekend does not depend on a hurried dash between rooms.
The 2026 programmes featured Lucy Foley at Bloody Scotland; follow those guides for event information and practical visit details.
Does she write only contemporary mysteries?
Her writing also includes earlier historical novels. For readers choosing a first book, the suggestions below focus on three contemporary mysteries with different settings, while the author and publisher links introduce the wider catalogue.
Do I need to finish a mystery before the event?
Use the festival links on Lucy Foley’s profile for the event’s own ticket and audience guidance.
How do I buy a ticket to hear her?
Use the festival links on Lucy Foley’s profile for the event’s own ticket and audience guidance.
Can I build a crime-festival weekend around Foley?
Use the festival links on Lucy Foley’s profile for the event’s own ticket and audience guidance.
