Book Review | The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

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.

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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