360 pages
Published: March 2022
by William Morrow
Read: January 2023
Jess needs a fresh start. She’s broke and alone, and she’s just left her job under less than ideal circumstances. Her half-brother Ben didn’t sound thrilled when she asked if she could crash with him for a bit, but he didn’t say no, and surely everything will look better from Paris. Only when she shows up – to find a very nice apartment, could Ben really have afforded this? – he’s not there.
The longer Ben stays missing, the more Jess starts to dig into her brother’s situation, and the more questions she has. Ben’s neighbors are an eclectic bunch, and not particularly friendly. Jess may have come to Paris to escape her past, but it’s starting to look like it’s Ben’s future that’s in question.
The socialite – The nice guy – The alcoholic – The girl on the verge – The concierge
Everyone’s a neighbor. Everyone’s a suspect. And everyone knows something they’re not telling.
Trigger Warnings: sex work, sex trafficking, death during child birth, suicide, mental illness
Main Characters
- Ben Daniels– a journalist/food reviewer living in a very expensive apartment in Paris
- Jess – Ben’s half sister, she had been a bartender and left her job under not amicable circumsances
- Sophie Meunier – Lives in the penthouse, beautiful woman that seems to know that her only job is to stay beautiful
- Jacques Meunier – Sophie’s husband, make all of his money selling ‘wine’
- Mimi – Lives in the apartment, neurotic
- Camille – Mimi’s roomate
- Nick Miller– Ben’s friend that got him into the apartment
- Antoine – Lives in the apartment, seems very rude
- Dominique – Antoine’s wife
- The Concierge – Old woman that watches over the building
- Theo – Editor at the Telegraph where Ben also works
- Irina – Works at the club that Jacques owns
My Review
Jess leaves her job and comes to Paris to seek refuge with her half-brother for a while until she can get back on her feet. He doesn’t see thrilled she is coming but says to call when she gets there. When she arrives, he doesn’t answer! She gets into the apartment and finds traces of blood on his cat and realizes something is going on. She suspects the other occupants of the apartment complex know what is going on or have something to do with it. She’s starts asking around and investigating, eventually teaming up with Theo to try to figure out what has happened to Ben.
This book jumps back and forth between characters in the book as well as different timelines. I do like how everything seems to come together at the end and has a nice bow to finish it off. I did struggle because I didn’t really like any of the characters and they all seemed overly paranoid? There are also quite a few characters to keep track of, which is similar to Foley’s other books. I went back and forth between wanting to read this and also being bored and thinking it should hurry up and end… and one of the characters eating the hair clippings when they broke into the apartment of Ben? OOOOFT.
The Guest List is still my favorite by Lucy Foley. I liked this WAY better than The Hunting Party. I would still recommend this book if you are looking for a twisty mystery, but there are some very dark topics with sex trafficking involved.
“It’s not about where you came from. What kind of shit might have happened to you in the past. It’s about who you are. What you do with the opportunities life presents to you.”
― Lucy Foley, The Paris Apartment“You know, I read somewhere that sixty percent of us can’t go more than ten minutes without lying. Little slippages: to make ourselves sound better, more attractive, to others. White lies to avoid causing offence. So it’s not like I’ve done anything out of the ordinary. It’s only human.”
― Lucy Foley, The Paris Apartment
Spoilers
u003cstrongu003eWarningu003c/strongu003e: This section contains spoilers! Do not expand this section if you don’t want to be spoiled!
Nick and Antoine are actually Sophie’s stepsons. Mimi is Sophie’s adopted daughter. Sophie used to be a dancer/worker at the club that Jacques owns. Mimi is also the granddaughter of the concierge. The concierge’s daughter had come over and was working as a sex worker at Jacques’ business. The concierge’s daughter died in child birth and Sophie adopted her baby. The concierge is working there to keep her eye on Mimi.
Antoine had been blackmailing Sophie about her past. Sophie had thought it was Ben.
Mimi was in love with Ben. Sophie was having an affair with Ben. Nick and Ben had had some sexual moments when they were younger in Amsterdam.
Ben was going to break the story of Jacques’ business. Jacques was running a high end strip club that also sold sex under the guise of selling fine wine. Jacques found out that Ben was going to break the story and confronted him and almost kills him. Mimi stabs Jacques with her canvas knife and kills him. Sophie helps cover it up and convinces Nick and Antoine that they are covering up Ben’s murder and not their father’s.
Ben is actually alive, Sophie had been caring for him in the attic. Ben and Jess get the medical care they need. Mimi gets sent to away. Sophie stays at the apartment complex since Jacques is buried there. Antoine shoots himself.