Welcome to my review of The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley.This character-driven story set in a beautiful old building in Paris is a compelling read and will keep you wondering what happened to Ben and more importantly almost, why?
Welcome to No.12 rue des Amants
A beautiful old apartment block, far from the glittering lights of the Eiffel Tower and the bustling banks of the Seine. Where nothing goes unseen, and everyone has a story to unlock.
The watchful concierge
The scorned lover
The prying journalist
The naïve student
The unwanted guest
There was a murder here last night.
A mystery lies behind the door of apartment three.
Who holds the key?
Lucy Foley is the No.1 Sunday Times bestselling author of The Hunting Party and The Guest List, with two and a half million copies sold worldwide. Lucy’s thrillers have also hit the New York Times and the Irish Times bestseller lists, been shortlisted for the Crime & Thriller Book of the Year Award at the British Book Awards, selected as one of The Times and Sunday Times Crime Books of the Year, and The Guest List was a Reese’s Book Club choice. Lucy’s novels have been translated into multiple languages and her journalism has appeared in publications such as Sunday Times Style, Grazia, ES Magazine, Vogue US, Elle, Tatler, Marie Claire and more.
Say hello at www.facebook.com/LucyFoleyAuthor and follow Lucy on Twitter @LucyFoleyTweets and Instagram @LucyFoleyAuthor
The synopsis for The Paris Apartment looked terrific. I also thought I had read and enjoyed books by Lucy Foley, so this was an easy selection. However, it turns out that I haven’t read one of her books before, but this was a great introduction, and it’s great to see she has others I can go on to read soon.
Set in Paris, we begin when Jess arrives at her half-brother Ben’s apartment, where he should be expecting her and waiting. Still, he’s disappeared, and nobody appears to know anything about him. Of course, as the reader, we can tell that everyone does know who he is. Still, instantly he is portrayed as having a darker side that we will hopefully begin to learn more about as we read on.
The characters are a mixed bunch. The other apartment building residents are an eclectic mix though all obviously wealthy. The apartment building sounds beautiful and is well described. It is an old building with plenty of history. However, it does leave a lot to be desired, having not been well maintained, at least in some apartments like Bens. With pealing wallpaper and no mod cons like air conditioning, it needs some work; despite being so exclusive.
Jess and Ben are half-siblings who were orphaned at a young age after their mother overdoses with Jess finding her. They both end up in foster care until Ben strikes lucky and is adopted by a wealthy couple. He is provided with everything his heart could desire, a private education, connections, his own car at an early age and every advantage. On the other hand, Jess is left behind and suffers the seemingly everyday foster experience, being shipped from pillar to post and having none of the advantages of Ben. This examines how those differences have affected their lives and outcomes, showing nurture and opportunity win over nature in this case.
The plot focuses on finding Ben and Jess’s journey to find out what happened to him and why Nick, Bens’s old school friend, is there to help. Unfortunately, the search and the Parisian feelings that people walk away sometimes make it tricky to get the police involved. As a result, so much of the investigation falls to Jess.
There are many twists and turns, secrets and lies, making the plot more compelling though this is a character-driven read. Unfortunately, the ending was somewhat lacking. I wish it wasn’t quite so quickly wrapped up and that there was more detail about what happened. This didn’t ruin the book, though, and I enjoyed this read.
| Title | The Paris Apartment |
| Author | Lucy Foley |
| Series | N/A |
| Format | eARC |
| Page Count | 412 Pages |
| Genre | Mystery & Thriller |
| Publisher | HarperCollins |
| Release Date | 3rd March 2022 |
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