The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

Jess Hadley is going to Paris to stay with her half-brother, journalist Benjamin Daniels. She has recently been a barmaid in Brighton, but is now unemployed again. Arriving at Ben’s spacious, expensive apartment on the third floor of 12, rue des Amants, she can’t get a response from his phone and when she gets into his flat, he’s not there either.

Meanwhile, we are introduced to the other inhabitants of the apartment block – Sophie Meunier in the Penthouse (50, obsessed about her appearance, married to Jacques), Mimi on the fourth floor (young and inexperienced in life, lives with party girl Camille), Nick (Nicolas) on the second floor (who suggested Ben move in to the apartment), the mysterious concierge (who lives in The Loge – a tiny cabin in the courtyard) and the intimidating Antoine (who lives in the first floor flat with his wife Dominique) – who all seem to have their own issues and many of them appear to be due to Benjamin Daniels. What has been going on, and where is Ben?

It’s an easy book to get into with its nice short chapters, seen from different character’s viewpoints. The first few chapters set up the mystery, make the reader ask questions and wonder what has happened – why Ben has changed everything for people, what has been going on. It is definitely intriguing!

The book drip-feeds clues and hints throughout, so you slowly solve little mysteries, but want to keep reading to find out what has really gone on. More secrets are revealed, only to display yet more layers underneath. It is a tense read and because most of the book is set in the block of apartments, it’s quite claustrophobic too.