Do not give this one a miss love reading Lucy foley and this was no exception. This was one that kept me guessing till the end

I received an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher.
This book had a really promising start and I was initially gripped, however it unfortunately went downhill from there. The characters felt shallow, unlikeable, and undeveloped, and there were just too many conveniences to make it a satisfying story. The exaggerated writing style also made it a frustrating (and often cringe-worthy) experience. 2 stars.

Unfortunately this one was not for me. None of the characters were at all likable. The story was a slow burner, but it wasn't gripping or exciting enough to want me to keep going.

One of the main reasons this book intrigued me was the fact that it was a thriller set in Paris. However, apart from the odd French word or phrase thrown in there, this story honestly could have been set anywhere.

All that being said I did like Foley's two previous books and so this would not put me off reading more of her future work.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for my honest review.

The Guest List was my first read by Lucy Foley and I really enjoyed the tension, the setting and the locked in plot.
The Paris Apartment has many of the same ingredients - a cast of characters you don’t really like but don’t need to like, a locked in setting - this time a rather dark and moody apartment block - and lots and lots of tension. In this instance Jess has turned up in Paris looking for her brother. She has lost her job and needs a place to stay but when she gets there her brother is missing. The story flits between characters living in the apartment and between current and past events as Jess tries to discover what has happened..
There was lots that I enjoyed about this book - the setting is beautifully drawn and provides the perfect background for the story - dark and brooding with characters hiding behind locked doors, holding tightly onto their own story. The apartment block provides plenty of suspects to keep the reader guessing.
I didn’t find however that I enjoyed it as much as The Guest List. It was difficult to pin point exactly why - I didn’t like the characters in either story - but I think it was because the story did not maintain my interest in the same way as The Guest List. I ended up listening to this on audible which made it easier to absorb, but I think the tension and story line waxed and waned a bit for me and I found parts of the story more credible and absorbing than others.
With many thanks to Netgalley and for my digital copy of this book,

Lucy Foley, The Paris Apartment

Lucy Foley’s The Paris Apartment is a wonderfully constructed mystery, immersive and consistently suspenseful. At its centre is an elegant Parisian apartment block, Number Twelve Rue des Amants – an aging building of many locked rooms, sinister passageways and suspiciously watchful eyes. Long-held secrets are sequestered in every corner of the building.

Jess, a young Londoner, shows up hoping to stay in the apartment of her half-brother, Ben, but he is not there to welcome her. When she tries to find out where he has gone, she draws us with her into a maze of deceits and animosities. As we follow her through the apartment block’s labyrinthine corridors, we hear the narratives of the other inhabitants, who themselves watch the intruder with hostility and wariness. As one resident reflects, Jess has “a hungry, vulpine quality” that reminds her of Ben:

“All the more reason not to let her in. I don’t like strangers. I don’t like change. Change has always been dangerous for me. He proved that: coming here with his questions, his charm. The man who came to live in the third-floor apartment: Benjamin Daniels. After he came here, everything changed.”

As in her earlier novels, Foley fashions her plot with great care. She deftly introduces us to her main cast of characters in a series of short chapters revealing the personal histories, transgressions, passions and fears of the other residents. All seem capable of deception and betrayal – and perhaps of violence. An underlying atmosphere of threat and suspicion is evident in every narrative: “Perhaps you don’t understand who you’re dealing with, here. There are things I have had to do to get to where I am. Sacrifices I have had to make. People I have had to climb over…”

The Paris Apartment, in the best traditions of the classic country house mystery story, gradually reveals to us the deceptions and lies hidden within an elegant old building - a repository of secrets that must be brought to light before we can understand the crimes committed.

I found this quite forgettable, it was okay. I thought the premise sounded really good but the ending was quite disappointing.
Also, some of the characters were very odd like why did they eat someone's hair?
I need to try Lucy Foley's other works.

Thank you HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction, and NetGalley for the e-ARC!

I jumped on the 'request' bandwagon when I got an email that Lucy Foley's next was available as an e-ARC because I loved The Hunting Party and enjoyed The Guest List. I went into reading The Paris Apartment with hopes of an engaging thriller, Despite having a promising start, somewhere as the story progressed, it could not hold my interest. I was happy to see that Lucy Foley opted to change the format from her previous two books so I was expecting twists and turns but there weren't many. The story was quite predictable and it felt a little dragged towards the end. Without any spoilers, the story's only and final twist fell a little flat probably because there wasn't any strong suspense build-up! Having said that I did finish the book so it is worth a shot!

Every bit as good as her other titles. Loved the Paris atmosphere and the way I was led in to so many false paths to the killer’s identity.

The Paris Apartment is a slow, creeping thriller which I sped through over the course of a couple of mornings, this was such a great book for my commute to and from work, I couldn’t wait to just sit down and get engrossed in this story each morning! This is the first book by Lucy Foley which I’ve read but I’m definitely going to be adding her other books to my TBR because if this one is anything to go by then I know I’ll enjoy them.

I think one of the best elements about this book, which worked so incredibly well was the use of setting, I could totally picture the slightly faded splendour of the apartment at Rue des Amants, with each of its residents hiding secrets while our protagonist Jess tries to navigate her growing sense of dread as she tries to find her brother, the charming and curious Ben. I loved how so much of the story took place within the walls of the apartment building, it added so much more tension and this claustrophobic sort of feeling which heightened the mystery.

Overall, The Paris Apartment was an enjoyable, suspenseful murder mystery which kept me hooked throughout. If you’re looking for a slower paced thriller with layers galore, be sure to check this one out!

A great read set in a mysterious apartment block in Paris. Well developed characters play out this thriller and keep you guessing until the end.

Jess turns up at an apartment in Paris to stay with her brother Ben, who is nowhere to be found. Ben wasn't exactly rolling out the red carpet for Jess, and hasn't been the best brother, so why should Jess care?
Jess has a lot of trouble getting in to the building, which is filled with a family so entitled and obnoxious, you'd love them to meet a sticky end. Jess, however, is a survivor. She determines to find out what happened to Ben, and doesn't let anyone stand in her war for long.
This is another great Lucy Foley mystery.

This was a great concept, where there are so many potential stories and hidden secrets.
The setting of Paris gives an extra layer of intrigue, an old city with a history of its own.
Jess was a great character, I was totally behind her from the start. She is trying her best to start afresh but is coming up against so many obstacles from people who clearly have something to hide.
Each character is a fair representation of the broad range of society and the issues they have.
It was a tense, engaging read. It felt like the author missed out on making it a truly wow read but I can't quite pinpoint why.
I will definitely be reading more of her books though.

Lucy did it again!

I absolutely loved The Paris Apartment.
I read the previous books, so I knew I enjoyed the writing style. However, the story was brilliant. Full of plot twists and so vivid, I felt like I was in Paris. The characters are intriguing and you just want to know what they are hiding.

A brilliant book and I would recommend it to all the crime and thriller lovers.

Very engaging and in my opinion Lucy Foley's best novel yet to date with surprising twists along the way,

A very quick and easy yet captivating mystery/thriller.

my rating: 4.5 stars

What a great plot, an enjoyable read. The characters were believable though they annoyed me at times. I didn’t enjoyed this book as much as her others but I would recommend it to others.
Lovely description of the city and the building, I felt I could actually be there walking through the court yard.

I have read Lucy Foleys previous two books and enjoyed them so was looking forward to this.

I enjoyed it and found it easy to read.
I like the fact that each chapter is written for a character as I find these easy to follow.

Great read

I read and enjoyed Lucy Foley's first 2 books, but I'm afraid that this one just didn't work for me. I couldn't connect with Jess, our central character, and the dizzying switch of perspectives left me idly flicking through the pages trying to get a sense of what was going on whilst getting it finished as quickly a possible. The ending was....uninspiring.

Others have enjoyed this, so I just need to hold my hands up and say 'not for me'. Foley is a decent writer, and there is a narrative tension built up, for sure, so a 2.5 kindly rounded up to 3 stars.

(With thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this title.)

This was such a frustrating read in so many ways. None of the characters were likable, which doesn't always mean that I'll dislike a book, but boy oh boy were these characters just intensely unlikable and I don't even think it added anything to the story. Although Jess wasn't as unlikeable as the others and had a bit of grit about her, I still just wanted to shake her by her shoulders and ask her what the hell she was doing.
The revelation at the end was nicely done but I still struggled to stay fully interested in the story. It was an ok read but not one that I'd keep on my shelf.

If you are unfamiliar with the rising star that is thriller writer Lucy Foley and haven’t experienced both The Hunting Party and The Guest List, then, Where have you been? Having read the unputdownable The Guest List as part of a work book club during the first lockdown I have been eagerly awaiting Foley’s latest book The Paris Apartment and I am ecstatically pleased to say she doesn’t let me down.
The Paris Apartment succeeds on every level, a perfectly crafted mystery, a unique and expertly defined cast of characters and as I have come to expect from Lucy Foley, exquisitely crafted twists and turns. Each chapter seemingly ends with a cliffhanger that leads you on to the next startling reveal. You simply can’t put this book down. This is a bold statement for me to make, but if Agatha Christie was writing books today, these are the books she would be writing.
Simply a must read for any thriller fan. An easy 5 star out of 5

When Jess decides to visit her brother, Ben, in his Paris Apartment and she doesn’t find him there, alarm bells start ringing. Ben is nowhere to be found and there’s no trace of him, apart from the abruptly interrupted voicemail which was the last Jess heard of him. Through a set of mysteries and circumstances, Jess slowly discovers the secret among the family members in the apartment and what could have caused Ben’s disappearance. It’s not until the end, though that the real reason for this disappearance is revealed.

The story is told from the point of different narrative voices, each representing different ways of introducing Ben. It is a good story but it feels as if nothing happens for a long time.