I read ‘The Paris Apartment’, the latest thriller by Lucy Foley, in two sittings. It kept me guessing nearly to the end, with some unexpected twists along the way. When penniless Jess arrives in Paris to spend some time with her half-brother, he has disappeared. What follows is a page-turning story of the apartment block where Ben has been living, its inhabitants and the confusing discoveries Jess makes as she tries to find him. It makes her question if she really knows her brother and why he has been so distant from her.
This is a book about secrets, small ones, shameful ones, old and new secrets. And one huge one. Jess, at times vulnerable at times recklessly brave, attempts to be pleasant to Ben’s neighbours in this surprisingly elegant old Parisian apartment block. The snobbish couple in the penthouse, the two young women sharing on the fourth floor, a thug and his wife, the silent concierge plus Ben’s old university friend, Nick. The viewpoint swaps quickly between Jess and the other residents as Foley pushes the action quickly from event to event. The chapters are short and snappy and this makes it easy to read just one more, and one more. As Jess struggles to make a connection with these neighbours, she doesn’t know who to trust; and neither did I. I didn’t like any of them and Jess herself is difficult to connect with. But the mystery led me on.
The apartment block offers a kind of ‘closed room’ setting, well-used in crime stories, and it does its job well. It is grand yet mysterious with hidden doors and stairs, spooky attic and cellar, a cranky old lift and a C-shaped construction around a courtyard allowing residents to observe each other. I had a clear picture of it in my head.
Where is Ben? Did someone see him leave? Why hasn’t he answered his phone? And why is he living in Paris anyway? Nick offered him the flatshare but the two men haven’t been in touch for years. Given we don’t see Ben’s viewpoint except a brief Prologue, some things are hidden until the very end. The lines between current time and flashbacks at times seemed blurred and I got a little irritated with Jess’s naivety. A couple of scenarios I thought might be possible turned out to be wrong, but it was fun guessing.
Lucy Foley uses glamorous Paris alongside the sinister apartment building, riots on the streets, juxtaposing Parisian elegance with the seedier side streets and alleys, clubs and bars. As Jess considers each of her neighbours, trying to work out who knows what, shuffling up and down stairs trying to eavesdrop, she inevitably lands in trouble.
A satisfying fast read, helped by short chapters in different viewpoints which gradually construct the mystery like layers of filo pastry.
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While “to know Paris is to know a great deal”, knowing exactly what’s going on behind the locked door of No. 12 Rue de Amants might be involve far more trouble and danger than it’s worth. Unfortunately for Jess, she’s left with little choice but to investigate the mystery of The Paris Apartment. Having burned her bridges in England, she has fled to her brother’s temporary home in Paris in the home of taking some time to get back on her feet. However, despite knowing that she was coming, her brother is nowhere to be found, and the other residents of the apartment block are decidedly peculiar. They seem an unlikely bunch of co-conspirators, but there are definitely secrets being kept regarding her brother’s disappearance and at least one of his neighbour’s is keen to get Jess out of the way. The Paris Apartment is a slow-burning thriller featuring an intriguing central mystery and a distinctly unsettling atmosphere.

Lucy Foley has done it again. I read this in a single sitting while on a long haul flight and it has me fully hooked throughout. The Paris setting was so vivid and perfect. I actually went to a talk with Lucy when this was published and she is such an interesting person to listen to! I don’t think it quite reached The Guest List or The Hunting Party standards but I think I might have set them too high.

I've read all three of Lucy Foley's books and they get better each time. I enjoy her style, and the drip feeding of information through a time hopping narrative. I had almost worked out the end but with Lucy there is always a little surprise thrown in too.

With thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the opportunity to read this.

Having previously loved Lucy Foleys books, I was beyond excited when I received an ARC of her latest one. The book exceeded my expectations with so many twists that had me up till 3am trying to get to the end!

Gray and shocking twists throughout, a classic Foley style story. Very unlikeable characters, as per the authors standard, and a great setting.

This novel has it all; multiple character viewpoints with a smart and likeable character and wonderful unpredictable tension running through it. Overall the novel is full of thrills, twists, surprises and a satisfying ending.

In The Paris Apartment, a woman goes to stay at her brother's apartment. However, when she gets there, he has vanished, and the other inhabitants of the complex might not be what they seem.

I have heard good things about Lucy Foley, and I rather enjoyed this book. It is a fun read; quick and easy to fly through.

There could have perhaps been a few more scares, and it was slightly too predicable for me, but I appreciated it as a thriller. I will read more of Foley's work.

Thanks to Lucy Foley, NetGalley, and HarperCollins UK for this copy.

What an incredible read! It had me on the edge of my seat, second guessing what i thought I knew. Highly unpredictable and highly satisfying. It is so intelligently written, which makes it impossible to put down!

Writing aside, i fell in LOVE with the cover. The vibrant colours really draw the eye! It will take centre stage on my shelf! The blurb doesnt give too much away, but perfectly sets up the story, and is intriguing enough to make you read it straight away!

This one was a lovely read. I really enjoyed reading this one. I just love this kind of books.
4 stars read for me

Loveeee this author and her type of writing.

I loved Lucy Foley's 'The Guest List' and despised 'The Hunting Party', so I was very intrigued to see where 'The Paris Apartment' fell on this spectrum. I am pleased to report that this book fell towards 'The Guest List' side of things in terms of the quality of the mystery, twists and thrills. Jess is on the run from an incident at her awful bar job in Brighton, using the last of her money to join her brother at his cushy apartment in Paris. However, when she arrives, her brother is missing and the rest of the tenants in the building are acting decidedly shifty...

This book is a slow burn mystery. We get a variety of perspectives from the strange residents of the building, a mixture of the present goings on with Jess and flashbacks to Ben's short time living in the apartment building. Some of the reveals were really clever (the first big one about halfway through - wow!) and we get to see the seedy underbelly of Parisian society and the lives of the rich. The most confusing part of the story was probably everyone being in love with Ben (literally everyone) but he is not really developed enough to understand his magnetism.

Overall, this was a fantastic mystery - I loved the twists and the ending. I look forward to reading Lucy Foley's next novel!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher who provided an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars
I loved this author’s last two books so I was very excited to start reading this one, keeping it until I could sit down and properly enjoy it.

The story starts off slowly as the author sets the scene, while we get introduced the mysterious, apartment blocks and the interesting residents. From the start I had a bad feelings about the apartment blocks and admired Jess’s courage that she stayed there so long when I think I’d have run away.

Each character has a chance to narrate the story and we get to hear each of their points of view. It was very intriguing to learn more about them and their history with each other. All of them have secrets which are slowly revealed and makes the book difficult to put down as there always seemed to be something happening. I had mixed feelings about the main character Jess. She seemed very real as she had moments of strength but also vulnerability where I just wanted to reach into the book and give her a huge hug. She did frustrate me at times though as she seemed oblivious to the danger she was in and just seemed to wander into situations without any thought about her safety.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be recommending it to others. The tension builds slowly until the book becomes very hard to put down. There always seemed to be something happening to keep my interest and lots of twists that helped keep me guessing as to what way the story was going. I liked that the author keeps the story going for a little bit after the dramatic ending so we find out what happens to everyone.

If you’re a fan of gripping, atmospheric mysteries I highly recommend this book!

I've enjoyed many of this author's other books and was so excited to get my hands on an advance copy of this one. Unfortunately, this book pales in comparison to her others. It's unnecessarily long and confusing, and the characters don't really come alive for us. The mystery is buried beneath too many layers of the story and hidden behind too many undeveloped characters. Disappointing.

Thanks to NetGalleyUK for an e-galley of this book.

Jess arrives in Paris, hoping to stay at her brother’s apartment. But he’s not there.

This thriller is set in an eerie city apartment building. It’s a quiet place, away from the bustle of the main streets, and no one except the neighbours ever seems to be around:

The watchful concierge
The lover
The prying journalist
The naïve student

The Paris Apartment is like watching a tense film (without the music!) where I didn’t actually realise there were multiple narrators until now – I thought the main narrator was just quite talented! It was particularly nerve-wracking to listen to in bed.

Don't you just hate it when you get sucked into the hype of a new book, everyone's reviews making you excited to get your hands on it and then you read it yourself and are just left feeling disappointed? Yep... that was me!

Now don't get me wrong, the book gave a good solid start that had me gripped but I found the further along into the story I got the more it seemed to just plod on. I felt like I was reading for ages but not actually getting anywhere with it.

The chapters alternate between different characters, all seeming to have a connection with the main character Ben who is a journalist living in a Paris apartment. Each character is secretive and obviously hiding something but a big downside for me is I felt that the majority of characters just felt flat and were not at all likeable or relatable.

The author has always had this mesmerising way of transporting you to the place/country the book is set in but unfortunately I just didn't get that feeling this time. There were a handful of mentions of Paris landmarks but because the majority of the story was set within the apartment block it basically could have been anywhere in the world.

As expected there were a few plot twists and turns but in all honesty they didn't give the shock factor that I've come expect from Lucy Foley.

This one just didn't hit the mark for me but it definitely wont put me off reading this author in future.

Thanks to netgalley and Harper Collins UK for the ARC.

I quite enjoyed this one, I loved the setting, multiple perspectives & the overall tone of the book. 3.5* rounded to 4.

Good writing and unconventional twists, but I found it very hard to connect to any of the characters - I found them all so unlikeable! Maybe that was the point, but in not rooting for any of them I didn't connect to the story as much as I would've liked.

Lucy Foley is a new author for me, so I was excited to receive a digital proof and then win a physical proof of the book.

It starts quite slowly at first, and I was a little impatient as the pace just didn't feel fast enough BUT...after the first twist it drew me in.

We have some more interesting characters in that of Jess and Mimi, though there were a few moments where Jess seemed to forget it what she was supposed to be focusing on! At times, you the reader act as more of a super sleuth than Jess and she seems more prone to just stepping into danger! I like Mimi's complexity, and the layered approach to revealing more of this, with the book's format supporting this nicely as we pieced events and new information together.

It's a creepy and atmospheric story, I could really visualise this apartment block, with its somewhat unfriendly inhabitants, corridors and hidden areas. Whilst I guessed a couple of the twists, there were still some unexpected ones which really helped the story to come together towards the end.

I'm a big fan of books told from multiple POV and this device worked really well here in adding to the mystery and building a bit of tension. I think the author has built a solid foundation and I'd quite like to revisit these characters to see what happens next for them, it weirdly feels like the story needs a sequel.

If murder mysteries and thrillers are your bag, give this one a whirl!

Thank you to @harpercollinsuk and Abigail in the Readers' Room team for my proof copy 🤗

This is a fantastic, classic murder mystery. It has all the hallmarks of a classic; the questioning neighbour, the family members who all have motive, and the innocent staff. Ben's fantastic new apartment - what a great deal! - is not what it seems. Weird family, weird vibes. It starts out slowly but the pace builds quickly and it is a great holiday thriller.

The premise of this book sounded really good. This is the first book that I have read by this author, I admit that I still have The Guest List sitting on my tbr…

The socialite – The nice guy – The alcoholic – The girl on the verge – The concierge

Everyone’s a neighbour. Everyone’s a suspect. And everyone knows something they’re not telling.

I admit that I struggled with this book, maybe it was the heat, maybe it was just that the book was a slow burn that didn’t seem to be going anywhere? I found it hard to engage with any of the characters too as they all seemed so sure of themselves and reluctant to help. And there were so many characters, involved and I did find myself having to skip back a few pages to work out the who, what, why, where and when of yet more people. Jess, the main character also didn’t seem to work for me either, running away to her brother in Paris, with no money and no hope but as soon as she got there, everything fell into place…

I think that after reading this book, The Guest List may end up on my tbr for a while longer yet.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Collins UK for an e copy of this book, in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.