The Lucy Foley books may be read in publication order, by following this sequence:⁠[13-31]

Order Cover Title First published Notes
1 Book cover of The Book of Lost and Found. The Book of Lost and Found Year of
publication: 2015⁠[13-14] 		A photographer investigates family history through letters and art.
2 Book cover of The Invitation. The Invitation Year of
publication: 2016⁠[15-16] 		A journalist joins a film publicity tour and is drawn into a romance.
3 Book cover of Last Letter from Istanbul. Last Letter from Istanbul Year of
publication: 2018⁠[17-18] 		A story of Constantinople links a teacher, an army doctor, and a child.
4 Book cover of The Hunting Party. The Hunting Party Year of
publication: 2018⁠[19-20] 		A New Year’s gathering turns deadly when old friendships fracture.
5 Book cover of The Guest List. The Guest List Year of
publication: 2020⁠[21-22] 		A wedding exposes secrets after a body is discovered.
6 Book cover of The Paris Apartment. The Paris Apartment Year of
publication: 2022⁠[23-24] 		A woman uncovers the secrets of a Paris apartment building.
7 Book cover of Marple: Twelve New Stories. Marple: Twelve New Stories Year of
publication: 2022⁠[25-26] 		Lucy Foley contributed with Evil in Small Places.
8 Book cover of The Midnight Feast. The Midnight Feast Year of
publication: 2024⁠[27-28] 		A hotel opening becomes the focus of grievances, rituals, and revenge.
9 Book cover of Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel. Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel Year of
publication: 2026⁠[29-31] 		Miss Marple investigates a murder at an isolated Alpine hotel.
Reading order of the Lucy Foley books.
Reading order of the Lucy Foley books.

Works in sequence

The best starting point is The Book of Lost and Found, because it begins the publication sequence and introduces Foley through a standalone story of family secrets, memory, and historical discovery.⁠[4] Readers primarily interested in suspense novels do not need to start there, since later thrillers do not depend on earlier historical works.⁠[5-12]

Readers looking for a closed-circle mystery may begin with The Hunting Party or The Guest List, both of which use isolated social gatherings and shifting perspectives.⁠[7-8] Readers who prefer an urban missing-person investigation may choose The Paris Apartment.⁠[9]

Readers interested in a later isolated contemporary mystery may begin with The Midnight Feast.⁠[11] Readers specifically looking for Miss Marple material may choose Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel,⁠[12] while the short story Evil in Small Places in Marple: Twelve New Stories is better approached as a supplementary contribution for fuller Foley coverage.⁠[10]

1. The Book of Lost and Found

Standalone
Book cover of The Book of Lost and Found.
Book cover of The Book of Lost and Found.

The Book of Lost and Found (2015)⁠[13-14] features a family history mystery centered on Kate Darling, whose mother’s death leads her to letters, a portrait, and a concealed past. This novel moves between the present investigation and an earlier story of art, love, war, and lost parentage.⁠[4]

It reads independently, while also establishing the kind of layered memory structure that appears in several later works.⁠[4]

2. The Invitation

Standalone
Book cover of The Invitation.
Book cover of The Invitation.

The Invitation (2016)⁠[15-16] follows Hal Jacobs, a British journalist in post-war Italy, after an encounter with Stella draws him into the orbit of a film publicity tour. This novel combines romance, memory, and psychological uncertainty, with Spain, Rome, the Ligurian coast, Cannes, and Morocco forming part of its structure.⁠[5]

It does not continue the previous book, but it again uses the past to complicate the present.⁠[5]

3. Last Letter from Istanbul

Standalone
Book cover of Last Letter from Istanbul.
Book cover of Last Letter from Istanbul.

Last Letter from Istanbul (2018)⁠[17-18] is set around Constantinople during the Allied occupation after the First World War, with a later return to Istanbul framing the earlier story. Its central relationships connect a Turkish teacher, a British army doctor, a troubled brother, and a child whose identity carries historical danger.⁠[6]

This book stands alone, but it remains part of Foley’s historical strand through its use of divided loyalties and retrospective revelation.⁠[6]

4. The Hunting Party

Standalone
Book cover of The Hunting Party.
Book cover of The Hunting Party.

The Hunting Party (2018)⁠[19-20] shifts to a contemporary closed-circle mystery in the Scottish Highlands. A group of former university friends gathers for the New Year at an isolated estate, where snow, old tensions, and hidden resentments create the conditions for violence.⁠[7]

This novel is self-contained and may be read without the preceding novels.⁠[7]

5. The Guest List

Standalone
Book cover of The Guest List.
Book cover of The Guest List.

The Guest List (2020)⁠[21-22] continues the closed-circle mode with a wedding on a remote Irish island. Multiple perspectives build toward the discovery of a body, while the celebration exposes school cruelty, family fractures, and long-buried responsibility.⁠[8]

It does not depend on The Hunting Party, but readers reading in publication order will recognize a related interest in social groups under pressure.⁠[8]

6. The Paris Apartment

Standalone
Book cover of The Paris Apartment.
Book cover of The Paris Apartment.

The Paris Apartment (2022)⁠[23-24] centers on Jess Hadley, who arrives at her half-brother Ben’s Paris apartment and finds him missing. The building’s residents, servants’ spaces, family connections, and concealed crimes become part of the investigation.⁠[9]

As a standalone thriller, it offers a more urban, domestic mystery setting than the earlier, isolated gatherings, while retaining a structure built around secrets within a closed community.⁠[9]

7. Marple: Twelve New Stories

Story collectionOptional reading
Book cover of Marple: Twelve New Stories.
Book cover of Marple: Twelve New Stories.

Marple: Twelve New Stories (2022)⁠[25-26] collects new Miss Marple cases by twelve different writers. The stories revisit her village circle and take her to settings including New York, Oxford, and a ship traveling to Hong Kong.⁠[32]

Lucy Foley contributed with Evil in Small Places. It follows Miss Marple as a visit to an old school friend becomes a murder investigation in a small village during a local festival.⁠[10]

8. The Midnight Feast

Standalone
Book cover of The Midnight Feast.
Book cover of The Midnight Feast.

The Midnight Feast (2024)⁠[27-28] returns to an isolated contemporary setting, this time around the opening of a luxury hotel on the Dorset coast. This story links guests, staff, local protesters, old journals, and a legend of masked avengers.⁠[11]

It may be read on its own, while readers reading in publication order will see how the later thrillers continue to use enclosed settings, social power, and buried crimes.⁠[11]

9. Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel

Standalone
Book cover of Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel.
Book cover of Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel.

Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel (2026)⁠[29-31] places Miss Marple at a Swiss hotel reached by a single railway. When a body is discovered, a blizzard leaves the guests cut off.⁠[12]

It is readable as a standalone Miss Marple mystery and is most relevant to readers following Foley’s Miss Marple-related work.⁠[12]

References

  1. Books by Lucy Foley. HarperCollins Publishers UK.
  2. Marple: Twelve New Stories. HarperCollins Publishers UK.
  3. Agatha Christie’s Marple by Mark Aldridge. HaperCollins Publishers UK.
  4. The Book of Lost and Found. HarperCollins. ISBN: 9780007575350.
  5. The Invitation. HarperCollins. ISBN: 9780007575398.
  6. Last Letter from Istanbul. HarperCollins. ISBN: 9780008169107.
  7. The Hunting Party. HarperCollins. ISBN: 9780008297152.
  8. The Guest List. HarperCollins. ISBN: 9780008297190.
  9. The Paris Apartment. William Morrow Paperbacks. ISBN: 9780063003064.
  10. Marple: Twelve New Stories. HarperCollins. Evil in Small Places. ISBN: 9780008467357.
  11. The Midnight Feast. William Morrow Paperbacks. ISBN: 9780063003118.
  12. Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel. William Morrow. ISBN: 9780063376694.
  13. The Book of Lost and Found by Lucy Foley. HarperCollins Publishers UK.
  14. The Book of Lost and Found. HarperCollins Publishers Australia.
  15. The Invitation by Lucy Foley. HarperCollins Publishers UK.
  16. The Invitation. HarperCollins Publishers Australia.
  17. Last Letter from Istanbul by Lucy Foley. HarperCollins Publishers UK.
  18. Last Letter from Istanbul. HarperCollins Publishers Australia.
  19. The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley. HarperCollins Publishers UK.
  20. The Hunting Party. HarperCollins Publishers Australia.
  21. The Guest List by Lucy Foley. HarperCollins Publishers UK.
  22. The Guest List. HarperCollins Publishers Australia.
  23. The Paris Apartment. HarperCollins Publishers.
  24. The Paris Apartment – Lucy Foley – eBook. HarperCollins Publishers Canada.
  25. Marple: Twelve New Mysteries. HarperCollins Publishers.
  26. Marple: Twelve New Mysteries – Agatha Christie – eBook. HarperCollins Canada.
  27. The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley. HarperCollins Publishers UK.
  28. The Midnight Feast. HarperCollins Publishers Australia.
  29. Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel. HarperCollins Publishers.
  30. Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel by Lucy Foley. HarperCollins Publishers UK.
  31. Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel: The New Miss Marple Novel. HarperCollins Publishers Australia.
  32. Marple: Twelve New Stories. HarperCollins. ISBN: 9780008467357.