A basement renovation in an old London townhouse unravels long-buried secrets in The Midnight Hour, an enticing thriller by British novelist Eve Chase. Told in dual timelines 20 years apart, the novel follows a Paris-based writer named Maggie Parker and the romance with a mysterious youth named Wolf that altered her life forever.
In 1998, teenage Maggie is living in London's Notting Hill neighborhood when her mother, Dee Dee, a famous model, goes missing. Maggie's brother, Kit, who was adopted, is six years old, and only a serendipitous meeting with an enigmatic young man prevents Maggie from falling apart. Wolf, employed at his dodgy uncle Gav's antique shop, captivates Maggie and is adored by Kit. But a violent encounter with a menacing stranger leads to tragedy and a hasty cover-up, and Maggie is left heartbroken and burdened with a dangerous secret. Two decades later, the renovation of the Parkers' Notting Hill townhouse by its current owners means the deception Maggie concealed will come to light, with catastrophic consequences for all concerned--especially Kit.
A master of low-simmering tension, labyrinthine subplots, and evocative settings, Chase (The Wildling Sisters; The Birdcage) infuses her scenes with Notting Hill's bohemian charms, "grand villas," and the "chattering length" of its famous market, as well as Paris's glittery skyline "twinkling like a net of fairy lights." As the past encroaches on Maggie's present and she returns to London, her arrival sets into motion revelations that force an overdue reckoning with Dee Dee's past, Kit's parentage, and Wolf's shocking true identity. --Shahina Piyarali