I think this will be my last Foley book. Just like the other I read I struggled with this.
The premise sounded intriguing but I just don't seem to enjoy Foley writing.
This felt slow. Dragging almost.
The multiple POVs I felt made the story disjointed. I got lost when trying to figure out if it was past or present tense at times.
The characters were all unlikeable. Which I understand the reason but it made me struggle more. I just didn't care what happened or why.
I nearly DNFd but powered through. Sure I didn't see the twist coming but I also wasn't trying to figure it out.

I love Lucy Foleys books and have read them all, this one did not disappoint.
So atmospheric, set in Paris in a very eerie apartment block with some very very interesting characters, a plot full of Questions that kept me reading late into the night to finish it. I loved it and would highly recommend. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this early copy.

Jess is in a dead end bar job in Brighton and in a spot of bother so she decides to go to her brother Ben in Paris. When she arrives Ben isn’t around but she is amazed by his swanky flat. When he doesn’t appear she is worried and makes attempts to find out where he is. The apartment block and it’s inhabitants are not what they seem and lead us on a winding story I quite enjoyed the ride but wouldn’t say it is Lucy Foley’s best.

Absolutely brilliant. I love thriller in general but this book was just utterly brilliant! Thank you to netgalley and the publisher, I can’t wait to buy a copy for my shelves!

Loved this book - but then again I love all of Lucy Foley's work.
All hail the new queen of the locked room drama.
And it made me desperate to go to Paris - so I booked a ticket!

A very fast read, as is to be expected from Lucy Foley, this one had me thinking ‘just one more chapter’, on and on, over and over, till half the night was gone. She has certainly mastered the art of the cliffhanger!

A fish-out-of-water whodunnit set in a grand Parisian apartment building, it’s Foley’s usual, slightly claustrophobic, investigation into the murder of one of the gathered group of characters, and the Paris setting was very pleasurable to indulge in. Albeit with aspects of Parisian life that one would definitely want to steer clear of, obviously, since this is a murder story.

Not a deep, though-provoking book, but a very enjoyable one, and be warned - you may find yourself reading much later into the night than is good for you.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

Jess has found herself in a spot of bother. But it’s okay, her brother Ben will help her out. He lives in Paris in what turns out to be a very swish apartment block. But Ben is a journalist. He doesn’t have the sort of money to pay for massive apartments like this one. Then there’s the really odd residents. A strange collection of people who all seem to have something to hide. And, when Jess arrives, Ben is nowhere to be found. What is happening in this building? As Jess sets out to find her brother, will she get herself into danger? And will she find out the truth?

This book kept me entertained and I was happy to finish it. However, I wasn’t on the edge of my seat and guessed some of the twists. Not all of them though. Overall, a decent read, a solid 3 stars.

Lucy Foley made it again. Oh yes!

I have grown to become a big fan of Foley. The Hunting Party made me sit on the edge of the seat. The Guest List entertained me until the end.

If anything, The Paris Apartment is even better, in my opinion. Somehow, it is a less obvious, opaquer novel. Things do not happen in sequence and the motivations are not straightforward to begin with.

It’s difficult for an accomplished author to come up with novels with the same formal structure, but that work and surprise, nonetheless.

Well, The Paris Apartment does just that.

What’s more: Foley got rid of that annoying (very annoying!) trick of creating a cliff-hanger and, in the following chapter, explaining that it was all a misunderstanding and there’s nothing to fear.

But the real key to success is, like in Foley’s previous two novels, well-developed characters. They are fantastic.

Every. Single. One. Of. Them.

They each have their own motivations, backstory, flaws. And they are all interconnected to one another, like in a spider web. Some with strong strings that you can see from far away, others with only feeble threads that you can notice only from a certain angle.

And they have all one thing in common. They all love Ben Daniels.

Everyone loves Ben

Sophie is physically attracted, so much she cannot control herself.
Mimi is in love with him, in the way a teenager without any real understanding of love is.
Camille likes Ben just as much she likes every other men (and sometimes woman) around her.
Nick sees Ben as more than his best mate. He can't stop thinking of that night in Amsterdam when something happened between the two of them.
The concierge found in Ben the only human contact within the building.
Jaques likes Ben, confident and ambitious, everything his children are not.
Jess loves Ben as family. He is the only family she left, in fact.

Satellites and setting
Beside these central characters, there are satellite characters that are important only insofar they help take the story forward. We have the corrupt police, the riots, the exploited and abused girls, and Ben’s colleague. These characters seem somewhat external to the main story.

This is also marked in the setting. We are in Paris (duh), but in truth most of the action occurs within the borders of the building where Ben's apartment is.

The only scenes that occur outside (ok, nearly all of them) the building’s borders involve the satellite characters. The riots around Paris, the scene at the police station, the club, and the metro.

It’s like drawing a geographical line. If you’re important to the plot, then you’re within the building. If you’re not, stay out.

Final thoughts

I didn’t expect it. I am positively surprised by The Paris Apartment. It entertained me and, even after some time, I am left with a good memory of it. I’d recommend it to anyone who likes action-packed thrillers with well-developed characters – and of course to anyone who liked Lucy Foley’s previous books.

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley
What a page turner. I was gripped from the start.
Jess arrives in Paris, to stay with her brother Ben. Even though he’s expecting her and had been on the phone to her three hours earlier, when Jess arrives, Ben is nowhere to be seen. Jess, penniless, manages to find her way to his very salubrious apartment but still no sign of her brother. She does however manage to pick the lock and so has somewhere to stay for the night. The next day when there’s still no sign of Ben, Jess starts to get seriously worried and decides to question his neighbours. This is where things take off.
A super page turner filled with a cast of shady characters, this is a story with a few twists and turns that will keep you in suspense until the end. It’s a 5 ⭐️Book for me.

I am sort of ok with not letting facts getting in the way of good fiction. But the same does not hold good for logic and mystery. This book is one irrepairable mess when it comes to logic and human behaviour.

Paris Apartment is about Jess who comes to Paris only to find her brother living in an apartment complex is missing. She decides to find the truth of what happened to her brother. The characters in the apartment complex have their POV stories that hold all the cards and often inconsistent with what has already happened. The point of multiple POV in a mystery where most of them know what happened and yet act with dialogues like "I remember the first time I met him.." is lazy narrative.

Also, immaterial of the nationality the basic logic of how people react to a certain situations should be common sensical. When you catch a person eaves dropping on a critical conversation the host does not say "Ok. Do you want to join us for a drink?" or when your guest is snooping around and you catch them you don't think to yourself "Damn, this person knows how to be charming". That is the level of absurd reactions you get from the different characters. Oh, not to mention the meaningless sex scenes between any 2 random characters.

The author's premise of the mystery is flawed since what she is trying to do is keep you in the dark of what happened. Every character tries to mislead and remember total pointless memories that are not logical. The only intelligent premise is that of the business operation - which btw is rendered moot by all the alpha aggression.

I am disappointed with the book. But then, I am guessing someone who doesn't mind being a windy yarn may like it. Did not work for me.

Note: I would like to thank Netgalley and HarperCollins UK for the ARC of the book. The book releases on 22nd Feb.

I'll be honest, initially I was a bit disappointed with The Paris Apartment. I'd read two of the authors previous books and loved them but I just didn't hit it off with her latest read and it took a while to get going. However I'm glad I persevered though as about halfway through it really picked up. Although it was clear everything was not as it seemed at the Paris Apartment, I was still impressed with the tight twists and the character development. She's certainly not the most flawless of characters but t's hard not to admire Jess and her dogged determination to find her brother. She is joined by a whole host of unreliable narrators, each with their own story that weaves neatly into the main plot. Add in the eerie setting of Paris and the spooky apartment where the walls are groaning with secrets and lies and you've got a really intriguing mystery with a satisfying second half.

I remember enjoying and raving about Lucy Foley's debut novel, The Hunting Party. She painted a bleak but beautiful landscape, there was a small group of characters and with every twist came a new theory about the crime the story told. So when The Guest List appeared I was hungry for more. Again, she wrote a mystery that grew more mysterious with every page. All taking place in a bleak and beautiful location. I loved it, but in the back of my mind, I was starting to wonder what she'd write next. There are only so many desolate and lonely locations for a party around the UK, and in part those locations were as important as the ability to keep the mysteries alive. As good as those books were, I wondered if my enthusiasm may start to wane.

The Paris Apartment is Foley's third book, and reassuring proof that this journey of reading is far from over. This book offers us a bigger difference than the previous two. Of course, there are similarities. The same first-person perspective rotating heavily around the characters. There's a breathtaking location. And a mystery that does indeed drag out to the very end. They are all obvious, and indeed huge aspects about what makes Foley's books so enjoyable. The differences are subtler though. Clever too. They give this story a new spark.

If you're new to the author, this is a fine example of her writing and worth diving into. If you've enjoyed either, or both, of her previous books then this should be unmissable - it may lack some novelty by now, but in a number of aspects, I think it improves on her previous work.

Location must be considered. They were so central to the storyline previously. And so similar. But Paris couldn't be more different really. By centring on one of the busiest cities around the enforced microcosm from earlier books has been ripped away. Recapturing that intimacy and isolation in such a setting seems illogical, but it is achieved. A few trips out and around the city occur, but mostly we stay within the locked gates of the apartment building at 12 Rue des Amants. Each floor holds a different apartment. Each apartment holds a different perspective on the same story. Foley knows locations, and she clearly demonstrates her ability to take her stories anywhere.

We all read mystery books for the mystery though. Yet again, this story remains veiled in a shroud of confusion. The possibilities dangle tantalisingly in front of you, the truth so simple once you finally see all the details come together. This time there's an edge though. The story is happy to reveal parts of itself slightly sooner. Albeit rarely without at least one final twist to remind you that you're not going to solve it completely. Little nudges to tell you that no matter how smart you think you are, you are going to remain in the dark until the very end.

And that is where Foley's writing really shines. She believes in her readers. She understands when to tell you something and when to imply it. It makes the story flow easily. There are no jarring turns as you feel a hint is deliberately obscured, it just glides along confident that the reader can keep up. It doesn't sit you down and patronisingly explain details you should be able to piece together yourself. It always gives just enough to make the reading rewarding. To allow the author to focus on the atmosphere instead. To draw you in and keep you engaged.

It may still be early, but I already know this will be one of the best books I read this year.

My favourite Lucy Foley book so far! It follows similar Foley format of multiple POV's but was much more coherent this time around compared to the guest list.

A creepy Parisian apartment, a brother that suddenly goes missing as soon as his sister arrives. No one seems to know much about him. Everyone is cold. Weird right?

It was impossible to put down, I clutched onto this book all day until I finished it. Boy what a journey. The BEST Lucy Foley book yet. Can't wait for next time.

In my opinion Lucy Foley is fast becoming the queen of the locked room thriller, one of my all time favourite tropes.As a big fan of hers I was desperate to read this. the Paris apartment is a multilayered suspense, with a real,sense of a contemporary who dunnit laced with familial Drama.
Expertly plotted it features a exceptionally well drawn cast of characters all housed within the same exclusive gothic address in Paris. The exerting really adds to its chill factor.
The plot unravels flawlessly delivered via multiple POV’s - A mentally unstable young wo,em, a well heeled chic Parisian and a peeping concierge. All unreliable, all with secrets to keep.
Creepy, deliciously twisty and atmospheric this page Turner delivered on every level . This wonderful thriller knocked my socks off.
I loved how the author built tension throughout, I loved the short snappy chapter that left me wanting more. I enjoyed constantly guessing and theorising only to have to keep reevaluations as secrets unraveled, until I thought I knew the outcome. Then came the body blow- a killer twist that punches hard, and left me reeling. OMG definitely new best work so far and a must read for any discerning Thriller reader in 2022

Such a twisty read! Couldn't put it down and the ending just tied everything up for me.
Thank you for the opportunity to read this ARC.

The Paris Apartment was really interesting from the start. The short chapters made it engaging and the plot moved on with a fast pace. I liked that the POV changed from chapter to chapter as the answers to the mystery slowly started to emerged through each character's narration. The twist at the end was really shocking and it tied all the loose ends up neatly. I would recommend this book to others and will be reading more of Lucy Foley's work in the future.

My gosh what a utterly flawless novel! Lucy Foley is at the top of her game - this novel was equal parts enchanting, riveting and haunting. Atmospheric and action-filled; I was gripped from the first page. It lingered with me between reads and long after I turned the final page. I got shivers and found the conclusion extremely satisfying. Perfection! The best thriller I’ve read in years, without exception. I'll read absolutely anything by Lucy Foley - clearly, she cannot put a foot wrong!

Dark, twisty, addictive and all with the glamorous backdrop of Paris. Absolutely loved this! It’ll be one I’m recommending to everyone.

Jess has had to leave her bar job in Brighton at very short notice. She chooses to go to stay with her estranged half-brother Ben. Currently living in an apartment in Paris, in a well-to-do area, she doesn’t give him chance to refuse. When she does arrive he’s no where to be found and all she has is a voice note to go on.

This is the third book by Lucy Foley I have read, and is my favourite of them. As with her previous novels the story switches between different narrators. A lot of the book is from Jess’ perspective, allowing us to learn more as she does. Although there are some dark themes it’s a really interesting thriller which I couldn’t put down once I’d started it.

This is a fast-paced exciting and tense thriller. Set in Paris, it stands out from the mass of domestic thrillers with its original plot and believable cast of characters.

Of course there’s several twists and turns along the way, which kept my interest throughout and I loved this exciting thriller.