I really enjoyed Amy McCulloch’s first book, Breathless, and put it on my list of Chilling Winter Mysteries. So I was excited to try her new book, Midnight, which moved from Nepalese mountain climbing to an Antarctic voyage. Here’s my review of Midnight by Amy McCulloch with SPOILERS.
Midnight by Amy McCulloch
- To be published on January 2, 2024 by Doubleday Books. Thanks to the publisher for providing an advance copy for review.
- I read this book in December 2023.
- Midnight is on my my list of Travel Thrillers Set on Airplanes Boats Cars and Trains
Jen’s Quick Take on Midnight
- Fascinating closed circle setting
- Chilling, wintry feel
- A gaslighting plot that got a little repetitive
- Still recommended if you want to experience a VERY cool Antarctic voyage
Plot Summary for Midnight by Amy McCulloch
After a family tragedy, Olivia Campbell is terrified of the open seas. As an actuary who assesses risk for a living, she would seem the last person to sign up to head by ship to the frigid Antarctic continent.
But Olivia’s art dealer boyfriend decides to stage a career-making art auction for an artist who is passed away. The catch: it’s on a luxury ocean liner headed to Antarctica.
Olivia agrees to join the trip. In addition to wealthy patrons and potential buyers, the passengers include a group of employees of the company responsible for managing the ship, plus their charismatic, divisive CEO.
Immediately Olivia feels in danger on the ship as multiple attempts are made on her life.
As the ship chugs on and the temperatures continue to plummet, Olivia begins to wonder whether she might have booked a one-way ticket to her own demise.
Review of Midnight by Amy McCulloch
I really loved Breathless, McCulloch’s first book, which was a locked room-type mystery on a dangerous Nepalese mountain climbing expedition. Climbers in hazardous conditions kept having “accidents,” but were they really?
What did I think of Midnight?
On the positive side, the setting of Midnight was equally, if not more fascinating to me than that of Breathless. The reader gets to follow an Antarctic voyage, from the passengers’ embarkment in Argentina, to the crossing of the Drake Passage, to all the ports of call. There are kayaking expeditions in icy water and a LOT of great, unique details.
For me, the plot of Midnight did start to feel a little repetitive. There was a lot of time spent on the art world angle, which was interesting, but didn’t really tie into the story thematically.
The plot of the book veered between a locked room “And Then There Were None” scenario and a gaslighting plot. I wish it had more firmly gone one way or the other.
In a locked room plot, the characters are trapped together and the suspense escalates as characters are picked off one by one. All of them been invited for a purpose, and the reader has to figure out what it is. This seemed to be the case in Midnight, as multiple characters are killed.
A lot is made of the fact that, due to a traumatic incident in Olivia’s past, she’s terrified of the ocean. And yet, here she is on one of the most challenging ocean voyages a person could take. This should have made her more sympathetic to me.
Most of the plot of Midnight took the form of gaslighting, consisting of repeated threats to Olivia that no one seems to believe are real. She’s convinced she’s being stalked and that multiple attempts were made on her life.
The Locked Room plus the Gaslighting did not make the most effective combo for me. If Olivia was the target of this killer, they were pretty ineffective. If there were multiple targets, there should have been more suspense and less emphasis on the fact that Olivia might be imagining the whole thing.
The explanation of it all was a little convoluted, and I will explain below in protected spoilers.
I DO recommend Midnight for its truly unique setting.
I think readers who love an outdoorsy thriller will enjoy it.
This book reminded me a good amount of The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware, so if you enjoyed that, definitely pick this up.
The plot also reminded me of The Sanatorium, which, according to all the commenters on my Spoiler Post, might not be the best thing. (But I enjoyed that book!)
Who was the killer in Midnight by Amy McCulloch?
The killer was Janine, one of Olivia’s roommates on the ship.
Janine was also known as Nina, the girlfriend of artist Kostas Yannin. He died in a tragic car accident before he was able to enjoy his newfound fame.
First, Janine went after Olivia’s boyfriend Aaron. Janine killed him as he’d been providing Kostas with drugs so that Kostas could keep churning out art pieces. That was the prologue scene.
After that, Janine hooked up with a ship crew member, Liam, before the ship left. She paid him to put poisoned champagne (he didn’t know it was poisoned) in the cabin assigned to Olivia and Aaron. But Olivia had switched cabins. (Initially the cabin was assigned to the Cutlers, but I don’t think this was ever explained.)
Then Janine killed Stefan because … he was “ruining Kostas’ vision.” Okay.
She also killed Liam, who had already blabbed to Olivia about his role in the champagne poisoning.
Why Did Janine Want to Kill Olivia?
In short, she blamed Olivia for Kostas’s death. Hang on, because this is a lot. Olivia was supposed to have been driving Kostas to an event. But Olivia was overworked and suffering a mental health crisis that made her consider taking her own life.
Desperate, Olivia stepped into oncoming traffic RIGHT at the exact time Kostas was driving past, drugged-out by Aaron’s pills. Kostas swerved to avoid hitting Olivia and crashed.
Janine, who was following in a cab, saw the whole thing. Why wasn’t Janine driving? She didn’t have a license. Why didn’t Janine blame herself more, as she was the one who let Kostas drive?
Who was stalking Olivia?
Sergei, a ship crew member hired by Pierre Lavaud (lol I kept reading that as Pierre Cadault, like in Emily in Paris!) Pierre was a friend of Olivia’s late father, hired Olivia to help her out, and was basically watching over her. Why did Pierre think Olivia was in danger and why didn’t he have Sergei pass her a message? Because he didn’t want to panic her. LOL. Does Olivia have a future with Pierre?
If you have more questions or think I got something wrong (it happens!) please let me know in comments!
Please leave questions and comments below. Spoilers are fine!