A quick, read that is mostly very implausible, but entertaining. The mystery is told through several points of view - the main character is Jess. Jess is a product of the foster care system, has made several bad choices, and is on the run after leaving her bartending job in a questionable manner. Jess's half brother is Ben - who despite their shared trauma in early childhood, was adopted and raised by a posh English family and given a much different upbringing than Jess. When Jess needs a place to crash, she reaches out to Ben who is attempting to be a journalist in Paris, and plans to meet him and stay at his apartment. However, when she arrives in Paris, his apartment is empty, he is not answering his phone, and his last message appears to have been cut off - in a sinister way. When Jess starts investigating the people that live in Ben's wealthy, but creepy Paris apartment building, she starts uncovering secrets that could put her in jeopardy. Ending is quite over the top, but hey, if you have read Lucy Foley, you know to expect some murder, some affairs, and some plot twists and turns. Thank you to Netgalley for an advance reader copy.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing a review copy. This review will also be posted on my Goodreads page. I am a fan of Lucy Foley. While I don't think this was her best, I did enjoy it.

Jess arrives in Paris to visit her brother Ben. When Jess arrives, Ben is nowhere to be found. A few macabre clues lead her to think something bad has happened. Ben's apartment building is mysterious the say the least. The residents are an odd bunch and all seem like they have something to hide. Jess becomes involved and falls deeper down the rabbit hole to try to figure out what happened to Ben.

This novel was interesting. I did feel like It was gearing up for a reveal that would make my jaw drop, but while it didn't, I wouldn't say I didn't like the novel. It has an interesting mystery and keeps you guessing, but I would have liked a little something more. I feel like "mysterious apartment buildings" is becoming a trope in thrillers and to stand out you have to have that wow factor.

Jess arrives in Paris to stay with her brother Ben except he isn't there when she arrives. As she tries to find out what is going on and where he might has disappeared to she deals with the other tenants in the building; all of whom come under suspicion. A fast read with troubled characters, I really enjoyed it.

Compelling and dark, with revelations that will blow your mind. My only criticism is there are so many POVs and it also goes back and forth in time so I sometimes had to go back again to be able to follow - but that could be a "me" issue.

A thrilling, fast-paced read with some well-plotted twists. I liked the setting of a beautifully ominous Parisian building with unsettling tenants. I do wish we would have gotten more detailed characterization on this cast of tenants; the brief chapters and frequent switching of POVs kept the characters at a very surface level when I would've liked to read some more about them, flesh 'em out some more. As for the plot, Foley did a good job of keeping the tension ongoing throughout the novel and incorporating the shocking reveals at just the right moment. Overall, another quick, thrilling read that will keep your interest and nerves high throughout!

I'm officially done with Lucy Foley after this. I really wanted to like this one. I was convinced my dislike of the Guest List was just a fluke, but unfortunately that did not pan out for me.

This book was exciting just long enough to get you hooked as to what happened, but then really drags, and the reveals are all pretty boring, not twisting, and not as scandalous as any of the character seem to think there are. There were so many sets up that could have been replaced with far more interesting twists, as the ones that were used were quite predictable.

Overall, the whole book also came off as quite prudish which was off putting.

I feel like Foley is an absolute master at creating these places that should be gorgeous and alluring but even without the mystery you can feel the darkness and despair of the place seeping from the pages, and I’m completely in awe of her for that. Somehow this apartment feels more isolated and moody than the misty, lonely, literal island in The Guest List.

The characters felt kinda cliche at first, a bit stereotypical of any other murder mystery whodunit cast, but that didn’t really hold up past the first chapter for each person. You’re quickly given reason to suspect that there’s something deeper to everyone.

It starts a bit slow, but it’s a really good slow and I will die on the hill that it is okay (good, even!) for books to not be crammed with action on every single page. And the slow bits certainly aren’t wasted space (or time) - there’s so much stuff in there that adds to your understanding of the characters, to the building suspense, to the presentation of the plot. The plot and action is well-conceived and well-executed, but the genius of Foley’s writing is in the characters, the setting, the way it’s all set up, the way it unfolds. She has a way of writing a story in such an unconventional way that I feel like she could write retellings and I wouldn’t even realize what they were (but I’d enjoy every page of it).

And, like, it gets absolutely bonkers. I truly don’t know how people are saying nothing happened in this book. Maybe because most of the action happens in the past tense, rather than present tense, and characters are recounting/looking back on it rather than currently living it? Still, we’re talking about a time difference of maybe 48 hours for some events, at most a couple months for others. You get to see their current emotions and how they’re handling things based on what’s happened to them over the past couple days. It creates a kind of investigative feel to it, like you’re uncovering the story piece by piece and once one thing clicks into place a bunch of other things do too. It’s wild. And, at the same time, none of the twists are out of left field.

I thought this book was great, beginning to end. I was hooked, I read it in one sitting, I definitely could not process what just happened when I finished it, I really want to listen to a radio-show style dramatic reading of it, and I for sure recommend giving it a shot.

Jess is on her way to Paris to meet her brother Ben. Although he didn’t seem very excited about her visit, she is thankful. Jess left her job and desperately needs a fresh start. When she arrives to the address Ben gave her, she is amazed at the size and grandeur of the home. Even though it is an apartment, how could he ever afford a place like this?

Upon Jess’s arrival she is immediately introduced to a few neighbors and the surprise of Ben not being home. Although Ben is not the most reliable, he would never just disappear on her. Or, would he? As Jess asks his neighbors about his whereabouts, she quickly learns that the neighbors might not be so neighborly. One seems to be an angry drunk, another is the quintessential beautiful Parisienne, one is a handsome friend of Ben’s, and the last apartment houses a quirky young girl.

As Jess tries to find her brother, she is immediately thrusted into the lives of Ben’s neighbors, who all seem to be hiding something. Can she find her brother and what role do his neighbors play in his disappearance?
Foley has created a fun, twisty thriller that kept me guessing. Although some aspects were predictable, I really enjoyed getting to know the neighbors through the telling of their points of view. Towards the end of the book, I had a difficult time putting it down, wanting to know more. I was truly shocked by the ending and would encourage any lover of a mystery/thriller to pick it up and see if they can figure out whodunit.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for allowing to read the book in advance and giving my honest review.

3.5 stars

I finished Lucy Foley's The Guest List just a book or two before starting this one, which I think probably affected my review of this book. The Guest List kept you guessing the whole time about who died and how it all came together, and I mostly found the characters telling the story sympathetic and I was sort of rooting for them and also feeling terrible for them about their personal losses.

This book, however, had far fewer sympathetic characters. Ben's sister, Jess, was the only person I was invested in. The rest of them were horrible enough for me to not really care what happened to them or why. I didn't even really care too much about what happened to Ben, which was the central plot point of this book. I stopped and started this book many times, just lacking the motivation to get all the way to the end. And when I got to the end, I still felt pretty meh about it.

Lucy Foley does do a great job weaving together the disparate voices and stories, but this plot and these characters were just not for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Who do you turn to when there is no one else? Family. That's what Jess does when she flees to her brother Ben's apartment in Paris--except he's now disappeared. Things do not add up, and quickly Jess realizes there is something not quite right about this apartment building or its inhabitants. The Paris Apartment is quite simply Lucy Foley's best novel to date. This haunting thriller will keep fans of Ruth Ware and Megan Miranda on the edge of their seats. Recommended.

4.5. This was slow-moving at first, but then when it picked up, I became very intrigued. The ending was a little unbelievable, but overall this is my favorite Lucy Foley. I was in the minority for The Guest List, and I didn't care for it. The Hunting Party was alright, but this book made me want to be a rich person in Paris. It had a very Agatha Christie, "Who-done-it" feel, which had me on the edge of my seat. It wasn't overtly obvious at any point, in my opinion. This was a fast, fun read. Loved it!

Thank you to @Netgalley #theparisapartment #lucyfoley for this advanced reader's copy for an honest review.

Lucy Foley returns with another cast of complicated characters forced together in a seemingly isolated and atmospheric setting. This book had me scratching my head as the questions build through the first half of the book to the point where I didn’t think I’d get them all answered. Sure enough a mid story plot twist comes out of nowhere to answer the right questions to leave you hooked for the rest of the journey. While I found the characters a little too flawed and unlikeable I enjoyed the atmosphere and look forward to her next book.

I LOVED this book. I did not know where it was going, kept trying to guess, but didn't get it right until the end. I currently have huge waiting list at my library based on my review of this book. I absolutely loved all of the french phrases used in the book. I took French is school, and it was fun to try to translate words!

I really, really enjoyed this!

The set up of the story takes up quite a bit of the book but I really enjoyed the deeper dive into the main character's backgrounds and experiences and thoughts. That level of backstory is necessary to several of the plot twists and I think the slow build is absolutely worth it. It's more of a character based book rather than a fast paced plot but I think it was executed well. I found the POV voices to be different enough that I did not confuse them at all. The only thing I struggled with was who lived on which floor of the building, but that's not really a necessary detail (plus each chapter heading tells you which floor they're on which was helpful).

Experienced mystery/thriller readers may be able to guess some of the twists (I guessed one of them) but it was still an enjoyable reading experience and the final two surprises were very well done. The themes towards the end are a little bit on the darker side but I think it was handled delicately with a good, albeit brief, resolution.

Arriving in the dark days of February, Lucy Foley’s The Paris Apartment nevertheless feels like the most entertaining sort of summer thriller, a fast-paced, twisty bit of escapism that mixes compelling, messy characters, deft narrative red herrings, shifting perspectives, and a few genuine surprises to create a story that’ll keep you up reading well into the night.

I loved the setting of this book! The big mysterious apartment building in Paris, full of rich people with secrets. Jess is running from her crappy life to her half-brother, the perfect brother, Ben. When she gets to Ben's apartment in Paris, Ben is missing. This book is a psychological thriller but learning all the secrets about the tenants and the secret passageways and doors in the building is eerie. I love eerie. A good read, fast paced, with a great twist at the end.

A thank you to Netgalley for sharing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

If you loved (or liked) The Hunting Party or The Guest List, then there's a good chance you'll dig Lucy Foley's latest locked room mystery, The Paris Apartment. It's a little slow to start, but the more you learn about the characters and sink into this unpredictable thriller, the more you'll be hooked. Atmospheric and filled with ominous folks, it oozes with creeps and is filled with twists. Another knock it out of the park novel for this bestselling author. 3.5 as I didn't get into it for quite a while. Not the greatest on audio, but a solid read in book form.

Entertaining, though mildly predictable. A standard Lucy Foley novel that is sure to appeal to fans of her work.

“But that’s what being poor does to you; it shortens your childhood. It hardens your ambition.” The words of the ever watchful concierge in The Paris Apartment speak truth to the hard and terrible choices some people have to make in life.

Jess arrives in Paris to stay with her half brother Ben. While they both come from the same hardscrabble background, Ben got adopted into a wonderful family. Jess? Not so lucky. But those survival instincts honed by a tough childhood serve her well as she moves into Ben’s apartment. Ben is missing and Jess sets out to find the only family member she has. The mysterious Meurnier family occupies the building Ben is living in, and they seem to be the key to solving Ben’s disappearance.

There is much to like about The Paris Apartment. I really liked the characters of Jess and in particular, the Concierge. I wanted the Concierge (we never know her real name) to get the life she deserves at the end. The story moves quickly, with the reader knowing things aren’t as they seem- but we solve the mystery along with Jess. Would I say this is essential reading? No. Would I say it’s a a fun thriller that will keep you entertained? Absolutely! 3.75 stars but I rounded up. Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this as an ARC.

A quick synopsis: Jess goes to stay with her brother Ben, who has somehow mysteriously disappeared before she shows up. She is surrounded by mysterious characters living in Ben’s building, and as she continues to search for him she realizes things and people aren’t what they seem. This was a great book to pull an avid reader out of a (rare) reading slump. It felt like a mash up of Rebecca and Only Murders In the Building, and had a few delicious twists. Foley’s writing just keeps getting better.