Lucy Foley's best book so far. I thought this was definitely her best work. The other books were enjoyable but this was very well constructed, felt very Parisian and I could not guess what had happened. A very good detective story.

When Jess has to flee from a dodgy situation, she knows exactly where to head to - to her brother in Paris. Though they aren’t close, Ben hasn’t let her down before and tells her he will wait up for her arrival. Except when Jess arrives as the posh apartment building, Ben is nowhere to be seen. When she finally gets in to the apartment, Ben’s wallet and keys are still there and his cat is covered in blood. Where’s Ben? Has Jess jumped from one dangerous situation into another?

I have heard all the buzz about Lucy Foley’s books before but haven’t had a change to read them until “The Paris Apartment”. The book lived up to all the positive things I had read about her writing. She captured the claustrophobic, incestuous feel of the apartment building and it’s residents. I loved the multiple POVs, each narrated perfectly for the character and totally distinct from the others. This made it easy to follow the story whilst drawing you further in to the plots as each different voice revealed secrets and context to Ben’s disappearance. It’s a really great audiobook production.

For me it had the perfect balance of revelations and twists that I had guessed and others that I hadn’t guessed and came as a great surprise. It’s the perfect audiobook for fans of thrillers and domestic suspense and it definitely made me keen to read more from this author.

Thank you to Lucy Foley, Harper Collins UK audio and Netgalley for the opportunity to review an advanced copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first Lucy Foley book and I loved it. It is set in the summer in a sinister old house in Paris which has been turned into apartments. The house and Paris itself are so well described that I could imagine myself there. It started slowly but I was soon intrigued and couldn't work out quite where it was heading. The chapters are short and snappy so that I couldn't resist listening to just one more until I realised it was 2am. The characters are an unlikeable and unreliable bunch but very well fleshed out. I love a good old locked room mystery and this one hit the spot.

The book is read by multiple narrators and they all did a great job.

Read through netgalley- as an audiobook.
I had read the authors previous two books which have a very similar plot, but I enjoyed them enough to want to give this a go. This is the story of Jess who arrives to visit her brother, but it transpires that he is missing. I liked how the characters were all linked and how the story came together.

Apologies it seems to have taken me an age to finish this, I find audiobooks difficult when working from home. The readers of the story were good although I did get confused between the characters at first.

It was interesting but a bit long. The story took a long time before getting into the center of the story. To me the reasoning for the book was not really thought out. I think the plot could of been more developed. The characters took a lot to start being interested. Abut cliche at some parts. The ambiance was good and the writting was well done.

This novel by Lucy Foley was on my list of anticipated reads for 2022 and I was so glad to get an ARC through Netgalley. I enjoyed her first two novels so I had high hopes for this one. She definitely changed her typical formula by making it more complicated, which resulted in making the story a bit messy. There are things dropped into the plot that never end up mattering or being tied up at the end.

The plot (if you can call it that) is a slow burn, but once you get to the last 20% it unravels really quickly. So quickly in fact that at times it felt like stuff was just happening to characters rather than them driving the uncovering of the mystery. Everything is resolved much too easily and quickly - and by that I mean most of it is done "offstage" and we get a summary of what happened, which didn't feel earned or satisfying.

Foley uses multiple POVs here again, which I enjoyed previously. She does a good job of juggling all of them here, but all the characters are so horrible. It was at times really difficult to follow the motives of the characters too.

As always, there's a lot of chat about class, the haves and the have-nots. I enjoy this aspect of her novels, but in this one, the sheer contempt that the main character has for anyone who has more money than her was a bit much at times.

I saw this in other reviews and I highly agree - the novel is set in Paris and it's in the title of course, but Paris really doesn't feature in this novel. This could be set anywhere in Europe at this point.

This brings me to the use of French in this novel. Obviously, I'm French-speaking so it mattered more to me, but I found it inane. All these characters speak English so the use of French was sprinkled in there to give us a taste, but at every turn, it was translated. This was frankly unnecessary, especially taking into account that they were mostly insults and curse words.

My final thoughts are on the narrators, as I got an audio-ARC. They generally did a good job, but again this is the audiobook I enjoyed the least (compared to her first 2 novels which I also listened to.) The accents were rough at times, but I understand it gave us an idea of cultures and such. Again, it's 100% because I'm French-speaking, but I feel like they could have picked narrators who could speak French. Only one of the narrators, to my ears, spoke French correctly. But I know here I'm going into nitpicky details and most English-speaking listeners won't know or care about this.

I love Lucy Foley! But unfortunately I found this book a bit slow. I don’t know if that’s because I listened to the book on audio and I just didn’t connect with the narrators, for me the narrator can make or break an audiobook.

*3 Stars!! 🎧

This follows Jess who goes to Paris to stay with her half brother Ben only to find out that he's disappeared and left behind a voicemail with suggests foul play. With Jess not being able to speak French she gets help from her brothers university friend Nick who was the one to arrange for Ben to stay at the apartment.

Very quickly it becomes apparent that Ben had an ulterior motive for reconecting with Nick and that his work as a journalist might have put him in danger. As Jess tries to find out what's happened to her brother it becomes clear that Nick and the other occupants of the building all have something to hide and will do anything to keep there secrets hidden even kill.

Unfortunately i really struggled with this book, I liked the plot and i think it had a lot of potential bit it fell flat for me. I think I might have liked it more if I physically read it instead of actually listening to it. I didn't like the French accents especially Mimi's it drove me crazy plus I hated her character right from the beginning. The only characters I liked was Jess and Ben's boss/editor.

*Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK Audio for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.*

Overall, I enjoyed this one! It was a great twisty, turny family drama and I didn’t guess the twists which is always a good thing, particularly given I’m quite a regular thriller reader. I listened to this on audiobook and it worked well - there are a number of characters so having different narrators/voices was helpful. The French accents were believable, which is good as my pet hate is when accents sound forced on audiobooks.

The story follows Jess, who travels to Paris with the intention of staying with her half-brother Ben in his ‘mates rates’ swanky Parisian apartment. When Jess arrives, Ben has disappeared. A series of unsettling encounters with the inhabitants of the neighbouring apartments leads Jess to believe something sinister has happened.

Jess takes it upon herself to investigate what’s happened to her brother and along the way unearths some secrets that the inhabitants would have rather kept hidden.

If there was any criticism I’d say that there were perhaps too many characters and so the different stories could get a bit confusing. Equally, I wasn’t convinced that the setting in Paris really added anything to the plot, other than it made it a bit more ‘interesting’.

That being said, an enjoyable yarn and would recommend it for a good, easy to read/listen thriller.

I also really enjoyed ‘The Guest List’ by the same author!

The Paris Apartment is a new crime drama from Lucy Foley. I enjoyed her first book The Hunting Party and was disappointed by the second one - The Guest List. Therefore, the jury was out on this third one. It was more of a slow burner than I usual like and the characters were too much of a cliche (spoilt rich unhappy and useless son, cruel and nasty rich father; a protagonist who overcame adversities etc). The secrets were also obvious and held no major surprises. I listened to the audio version and its excellent narration saved the day, otherwise I am not sure I would have finished.
I won’t be in a rush to preorder the author’s next book.

Enjoyed this 'locked apartment block' mystery. Lots of characters but kept me gripped and guessing to the end. Recommended.

EXCERPT: He should call her, give her some directions. When her phone rings out he leaves a voicenote: 'Hey Jess, so it's number twelve, Rue des Amants. Got that? Third floor.'

His eye's drawn to a flash of movement in the courtyard beneath the windows. Someone's passing through it quickly. Almost running. He can only make out a shadowy figure, can't see who it is. But something about the speed seems odd. He's hit with a little animal spike of adrenaline.

He remembers he's still recording the voicenote, drags his gaze from the window. 'Just ring the buzzer. I'll be up waiting for you-'

He stops speaking. Hesitates, listens. A noise. The sound of footsteps out on the landing . . . approaching the apartment door.

The footsteps stop. Someone is there, just outside. He waits for a knock. None comes. Silence. But a weighted silence, like a held breath.

Odd.

And then another sound. He stands still, ears pricked, listening intently. There it is again. It's metal on metal, the scrape of a key. Then the clunk of it entering the mechanism. He watches the lock turn. Someone is unlocking his door from outside. Someone who has a key, but no business coming in here uninvited. The handle begins to move downwards. The door begins to open, with that familiar drawn out groan.

He puts his phone down on the kitchen counter, voicenote forgotten. Waits and watches dumbly as the door swings forward. As the figure steps into the room.

'What are you doing here?' he asks. Calm, reasonable. Nothing to hide. Not afraid. Or not yet. 'And why-'
Then he sees what his intruder holds.

Now. Now the fear comes.

ABOUT 'THE PARIS APARTMENT': 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?

MY THOUGHTS: I think it would be very difficult to find another author who does tension as well as Lucy Foley. I am not going to say anything whatsoever about the plot - it's one of those books where it's best that the reader goes in blind. I love it that the publicity blurb gives nothing away. That's as it should be.

Foley has constructed a gloriously twisty, atmospheric mystery that surprised and satisfied me. I didn't know who to trust, if anyone. The Paris Apartment is told from many points of view, but don't let this put you off. The cast of narrators is: Sophie - the penthouse; Mimi - 4th floor; Ben/Jess - 3rd floor; Nick - 2nd floor; Antoine - 1st floor; and the concierge - the cottage.

The narrators are largely unlikeable and mostly unreliable. They all have secrets to hide, some darker than others, and some interconnected.

The question is, how far will some go to protect their secrets? Will they kill to protect those secrets? Or will they kill to escape them?

Foley takes us beneath the glitzy facade of Paris, the designer fashion shows, the Eiffel Tower, the West Bank cafes, and shares some of its dirty secrets.

I was lucky enough to have been provided with both digital and an audio ARCs of the Paris Apartment, and I equally enjoyed both. The audiobook is superbly narrated by a full cast of characters, making for a wonderful listening experience.

⭐⭐⭐⭐.3

#TheParisApartment #NetGalley

I: @lucyfoleyauthor @harpercollins

T: @LucyFoleyTweets @HarperCollins

#audiobook #book #contemporaryfiction #crime #familydrama #mystery #suspense

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley is currently available in hardcover, paperback, Kindle and audio formats.

THE AUTHOR: Lucy Foley studied English liter­ature at Durham University and University College London and worked for several years as a fiction edi­tor in the publishing industry. She is the author of five novels including The Guest List and The Hunt­ing Party. She lives in London.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Harper Collins UK and Harper Collins Audio via Netgalley for providing both digital and audio ARCs of The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review is also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage

This audio book was brilliant. It worked SO well as it was a full cast of not one but six different narrators. That is really what made the story come to life for me. With so many characters and POV to tell it was each of their accents and dialects that held my attention and made me enjoy the story overall.

I was a little frustrated with the first 50% of the book as it felt slow, I needed to be patient as it was all a build up to that first plot twist which I did not see coming. From that point forward it was a wild ride of a read and I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Collins Audio for my review copy.

The claustrophobia of this novel was GREAT. And this was such a quick listen I think because of it. The story has a lot of pace to it, however it doesn't feel like anything really happens until the last 1.5 hours of the audiobook.

Mimi was the only character I found to be compelling and only because I was expecting her to snap and murder everyone living in the apartments.

In general the plot was good, I did guess the twist and the killer but I did enjoy it and would recommend for an easy thriller.

Thanks to Harper Collins UK for this ACR copy.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK Audio for an advanced listening copy of The Paris Apartment.

This was one of my most anticipated reads for 2022. I couldn't believe my luck when I received the advanced listening copy via Netgalley. I couldn't wait to get listening. Unfortunately I just don't think this book was for me.

The Paris Apartment has a slow moving plot. It's reminiscent of Riley Sagers Lock Every Door, which was an OK read for me. I think the plot is an interesting one, it just didn't pay off for me.

I don't think the audio helped, it seemed very disjointed and I struggled to stay focused. I enjoyed Jess's parts the most and her back story. But I didn't gel with the other characters.

I don't like to DNF, especially if I've been gifted the book. So I persevered but just found myself bored. I feel terrible leaving a review that is less than positive but I think it's important I'm honest for other readers sakes.

My experience has not put me off reading Lucy Foleys books. I've heard great things about The Guest List, which I hope to pick up soon.

I did prefer the paris apartment to Lucy previous two books. Its a mystery/crime set in paris, in an old fancy apartment block. There are layers of secrets which slowly get revealed throughout the book. It is well set up in keeping you wondering and slow getting the pieces to the jigsaw the same time as Jess.

The narration was good and definitely helped during the slow parts of the book which there was a lot. The accents came across really well and was clear and easy to follow. And was easy to follow who was talking (which isn't always the case with many characters)
None of the characters are likeable (but i think that is the point).

I like my crime/mystery to be more faster paste which is possibly why i dont enjoy lucys books as much as they are a slower pace to what i like.

Its one ill say stick with it if you do decide to pick this one up. I would say reading and listening helped keep me engaged through out the book.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC and a copy of the audiobook for an honest review.

Loved how this was written and the complicated story line. Listening to it as an audiobook as well made it so much more authentic with th French accents!

I am a huge fan of Lucy Foley and her gripping writing style. The Paris Apartment is a novel told
From the perspective of several characters, all of who live in a luxurious apartment block. The exception to this is Jess who has come to visit her brother Ben, but upon arrival finds that he is missing and suspects the other residents know more that they’re letting on.
I didn’t enjoy this novel as much as the previous ones, and the narrators on the audiobook were particularly irritating. The story was quite predictable but maybe that’s because I am so familiar with the author’s style. I am still looking forward to future novels though and can see why some people would throughly enjoy this one.

Set in Paris this psychological thriller keeps you guessing until the end. Jess arrives to find her brother missing and then starts to uncover secrets and lies, but who to trust? Quick read and liked the narrator.Thank you #NetGalley for the audiobook to review

*Huge thanks to ‘HarperCollins’ and ‘Netgalley’ for providing me with an ebook for Review*

The Hunting party is very much a ‘whodunnit’. It follows a large cast of characters, a murder occurs, and they are all under suspicion. It's skillfully written with multiple POVs that fit together like a jigsaw.

I enjoyed the twists and turns and the overall mystery of the book. The audiobook performance was excellent, using a differing narrator for each POV.

My issues came with the characters and the setting. I didn’t connect with the characters at all. They seemed too far removed from my experience. I also did not like how the book was set in a hunting lodge and the hunting scene, although tastefully done, goes against my beliefs. Animals shouldn’t be hunted for fun.
Overall it’s a good thriller that will work for other people, but for me, the author has written better books.

3.5stars

My review can be found on Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/26094184-cadguycad