Member Reviews
Excellent suspenseful mystery!! Lucy Foley is expertly drawing the readers into a mystery of a rich, Parisian apartment & the enigmatic people who live there. With Foley’s distinct multiple points of view (which I enjoyed), you see Jess investigating the disappearance of her half-brother, Ben. Ben is a journalist and he was researching an article before he disappeared. Jess, who is escaping her own troubles, had asked to stay with Ben at his new apartment in Paris. But when she arrives, he is missing and his vespa, wallet and keys are all in the apartment. Jess determinedly tracks down all the people who knew her brother and discovers a horrible secret world. Can Jess find Ben before they find out what she knows?
Excellent suspense and characters, and I enjoyed the plot twists to keep you guessing. Without spoilers, this novel has as many twists as THE GUEST LIST. Couldn’t stop reading this amazing mystery! Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!!
When Jess suddenly finds herself out of a job, it seems like the perfect time to visit her brother, Ben, in Paris. Not only is she surprised to find that the apartment is far out of Ben's budget, but he never arrives. Ben is missing, and each of his neighbors in the luxurious No.12 Rue des Amants building have secrets of their own. I will recommend to fans of locked room mysteries, twisty thrillers, and unreliable narrators.
Thanks to Netgalley, Edelweiss, and William Morrow for digital review copy.
I love Lucy Foley as an author. The twists and turns she puts me through when I read her books are amazing! The Paris Apartment continues my love for her writing. There is something about her characters, even those you don't trust, that make me want to read more. Stay up a little later and read one more chapter. The way she crafts the story and makes you think you know what is going on is brilliant. I think I know where things are going, then I doubt myself, then I think I am right again, and then boom I realize what she was setting up all along and it is masterful. I loved this book.
When Jess leaves London and comes to Paris for a fresh start, she plans to stay with her half-brother, Ben, until she gets on her feet. However, Ben has mysteriously disappeared from his extremely fancy apartment, and Jess desperately tries to figure out what happened to him. As she digs deeper and gets to know his unfriendly - and often openly hostile - neighbors, she encounters layers of secrets and lies and unveils some horrible truths.
This was another thoroughly enjoyable, bingeable read from Lucy Foley! Highly recommended for fans of her previous books and anyone who enjoys a suspenseful, twisty mystery full of unreliable narrators, creepy wine cellars and attics, and a far-fetched but ultimately satisfying conclusion.
This book wasn’t good, the multiple viewpoints and lackluster twist made it an unpleasant read compared to Foley’s past work
I like Lucy Foley's work but this one didn't quite come up to my expectations. There are two story threads. One is about a beautiful, wealthy woman surviving in WWII in Paris. Another is about her granddaughter who inherits a mysterious Paris apartment. Her discoveries and investigation reveal the woman her grandmother was back in Nazi occupied Paris.
This is review of a digital review copy provided by NetGalley.
This is a dark thriller set in Paris. Jess goes to stay with her half-brother Ben, but he’s disappeared.
This is well-plotted, and atmospheric. My favorite Lucy Foley novel yet.
A dark, atmospheric and brooding novel. Every character was not who they appeared to be and I believed anyone of them could have been the culprit. Jess the main character was annoying but I understood that was who she needed to be to get the plot rolling. I really enjoyed the twists and didn’t see the outcome until late into the book which is unusual for me. It had a claustrophobic feel to it, very Agatha Christie like. You will be wondering who did it and with what instrument too!
Thanks for the ARC Netgalley.
I was so excited to get this book, and it did NOT disappoint! It was the best I've read in a long time, actually. I was absolutely thrown at the twists, and felt the author did an amazing job of keeping the reader on their toes, as well as making it atmospheric- hard to put down. I don't want to give too much away, but I definitely cal say you won't go wrong by choosing this novel.
Another well-woven thriller from Lucy Foley, perfectly paced and grimly mysterious. Like 'The Guest List,' 'The Paris Apartment' is told from alternating perspectives and involves a family drama with complicated friendships. The setting (a grand apartment building in a posh neighborhood of Paris) feels like a character of its own. A great choice for the reader looking for a smart whodunnit with a great ending.
I'm giving this book 3 stars, because I did read it eagerly and with interest over a short period of time. But the flaws in the novel still gave me pause. For example, there are entirely too many voices/narrators used. it's tiring and trying. The mystery unraveled did not seem as interesting as hinted at. The main character (Jess), was not that charming or relatable to this reader. I never felt entirely invested in her character. Finally, the character of Nick as a closeted gay man driven to extreme behaviors to protect his identity bordered on a homophobic trope.
Thanks to Netgalley and William Morrow for the opportunity to read and review this title ahead of publication.
I was really looking forward to The Paris Apartment after enjoying The Guest List this year. Jess is headed to Paris to crash with her brother last-minute, and when she arrives at the agreed-upon time, he is not there. In fact, he does not show up. Jess meets the others who live in the same apartment building, and the rest of the book is her figuring out who to trust while finding out what happened to her brother, while also staying away from the police. I was pretty disappointed in this book - it reminded me a lot of Lock Every Door by Riley Sager, which I hated. It also took a long time for the thriller aspect of the story to heat up - way too much time is spent building the story, and while I thought it was more believable than Sager's storyline, I wanted more of a sense of place with it being set in Paris. I did wish for my reading time back. 2 stars.
I am a huge fan of Ms Foley’s The Guest List and its predecessor The Hunting Lodge - two closed circle mysteries told from multiple perspectives with the resolutions rooted in the past and the present. So I was very excited to get my hands on her newest, The Paris Apartment, but it was a big fat disappointment.
Jess has turned up with very short notice to her half-brother Ben’s apartment in Paris. He’s expecting her, but when she arrives, he’s nowhere to be found. Over the next few days as she looks for Ben, she meets up with the other inhabitants of the building and a couple of other people who know Ben.
As with her previous novels, this is told from several perspectives - mainly Jess and also four of the apartment building’s other residents. There are flashbacks to what happened before Jess arrived but these are brief.
So what went wrong for me? Firstly a caveat - I listened to the other two mysteries and read this one. Does that make a difference? Maybe. The format that worked so well, particularly in The Guest List, of past and present and multiple viewpoints just falls flat here. It is not, after all, a closed circle because the whole of Paris could be in on it.
The mystery itself just isn’t that mysterious. There was certainly a twist or two that I didn’t see coming, but the resolution of the main one - what’s happened to Ben - is about obvious as the Eiffel Tower on the Parisian skyline.
I found the characters less engaging than previous casts (possibly a function of listening/reading) and maybe there’s just not enough of them. It feels a little claustrophobic (maybe intentionally) and really reduces the villain options. In previous novels, we didn’t know who the victim was until nearly the end; here we know from virtually the first page who it is. The characters seem more caricatured and flat than ones from the prior novels who have felt vividly real. Jess herself lacks agency and needs others to push her investigation forward.
The setting is quirky: a rather rundown small apartment building in an elegant part of Paris, but I didn’t find it as compelling or atmospheric as the Irish wedding island or the Scottish hunting lodge. The outside world intrudes too much and, conversely, the inside world is too small. I never really felt that the author knew Paris that well. I assume she set it there so that Lucy could be isolated as she doesn’t speak French, but it makes for dialogue in English, even between French characters, and is sprinkled with some French which then has to be translated for us - this just feels clumsy.
So this was a miss for me, all the more so because of Ms Foley’s previous hits.
Thanks to William Morrow and Netgalley for the digital review copy.
Tightly plotted and neatly written, this made me feel more like I was in Paris than almost any other fiction set there that I've encountered. Recommended.
Jess is running away to her brother's apartment in Paris for a bit. She is surprised when she gets there as he is no where to be seen and even the neighbors don't know where he is. She is worried the longer time passes and he doesn't show and becomes increasingly concerned the more she probes his wealthy neighbors in the building. Is this just the famous Parisian snubbing or is there something more sinister about Ben's disappearance and his connection to the building's inhabitants? Lucy Foley is very good at building up a troop of untrustworthy and secretive narrators and this story follows the same path. Narrated mainly by Jess and the people who live in the building, we are left off kilter and not sure we can trust anyone. Her fans will approve as will those readers of anything for a thrill.
My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.
I loved Foley's "They Guest List" and was excited to receive this copy of her new book. This reminded me a lot of her previous book with a lot of characters in one spot, this time an apartment - and everyone has secrets.
Jess shows up looking for her brother and he's no where to be found. Even though he just invited her. Every one in the apartment building is looking at her suspiciously and everyone has a secret.
This book was okay, I'm glad I finished it because of the twists at the end... but it didn't grab me like I had hoped. I would still recommend it for those who liked Foley's previous books.
Lucy Foley’s newest title lives up to her reputation for plot twists, interesting characters and an eerie setting.
Jess is down on her luck and decides to look up her brother Josh, to see if she can crash at his new Paris apartment. He reluctantly agrees but when she arrives in the middle of the night, he doesn’t respond to the buzzer, won’t answer his phone and is nowhere to be found. As Jess tries to uncover the mystery she meets all of the quirky residents at this swanky Paris apartment, each with their own story and secrets.
Foley’s thriller alternates between narrators, revealing more depth to the plot with each character’s story. She interweaves differing points of view to create a feeling of suspense leading to a creepy and foreboding ending. The Paris Apartment is a sure to be a big hit for fans of Lucy Foley and a great title for people who love thrillers and mysteries.
Thanks to Netgalley and William Morrow/Custom House for the opportunity to review this novel before its release.
Loved this book. It had the exact right amount of suspense and thrill. Good twists! I really liked the alternating points of view. The characters were really fascinating as well.
The Paris Apartment is everything that fans have come to expect from Lucy Foley after the success of The Hunting Party and The Guest List. A closed-circle mystery with a group of unreliable narrators, a Christie-esque whodunnit, and a unique and foreboding environment. I loved every minute of this one just as much as Foley's previous thrillers, and this one will for sure live up to the hype.
This is a good follow up to Lucy Foley's last book "The Guest List". The story follows a girl who is down on her luck and hoping to start over with her half brother. Upon arriving at her brother's residence she is unable to locate him and has to do her own investigating to see what has happened. The story continues on with several twists and turns as the author slowly reveals more and more about the neighbors in the apartment and how they are all interconnected. The end has a major twists and turns, which I did not see coming, and provided for a good read throughout the story. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys mysteries and unexpected twists.