Book Review: The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley

My Rating:

3.5⭐

Benjamin ‘Ben’ Daniels is a journalist presently renting an old apartment in one of Paris’s posh neighborhoods, an arrangement made possible by his old college buddy Nick Miller with whom he has reconnected after a long gap and who is also a resident in the same building. As the novel begins Ben is seen in his apartment awaiting the arrival of his half-sister Jess Hadley. Both Ben and Jess were orphans under the foster care system. Ben, having been adopted by an affluent family has led a comfortable life, received a good education, and though he isn’t quite as successful as he wants to be, is gainfully employed as a journalist. Comparatively, Jess has not had it easy, having been in and out of foster homes all her life and needing to fend for herself. Her recent stint as a bartender did not end well and she finds herself unemployed and in need of a place to lay low for a while. Though Ben isn’t quite thrilled with Jess’s visit, he doesn’t refuse her when she plans to crash with him for a while. However, when she arrives Ben does not respond to her calls despite having left a voice message on her phone saying that he was expecting her. She manages to enter his apartment and notices Ben’s coat, wallet and personal belongings intact but Ben himself nowhere to be found. She waits in his apartment and when he does not return or return her calls, she is sure that something has happened to him. 

Ben’s neighbors are of no help, between them they are openly resentful of her presence, often hostile and on occasion weird and creepy – a snobbish socialite with a mysterious past and her rich husband, an alcoholic whose wife has recently left him, a neurotic young woman and her party crazy roommate, a ‘concierge’ who sees everything that goes on in the building and Nick who is the only one who offers to help her locate Ben. In her efforts to unravel the mystery behind Ben's disappearance she also tries to find out more about what Ben was currently working on and whether his work had anything to do with his disappearance.

What happened to Ben? Do his neighbors know more than they are letting on? Will Jess be able to find him before it is too late? Is Jess safe in that apartment?

Through multiple POVs we get to know more about Ben and his interactions with his neighbors. It is obvious most of these people are untrustworthy and harbor secrets of their own. It is also apparent that Ben had his own agenda in befriending them. Jess, is portrayed as street smart and has had a tough life but somehow, her role in trying to solve this mystery is more reactive than proactive (at times passive even) and her “helpless” reactions to the events that unfold are somewhat contradictory to how the author initially builds up her character. There also isn’t much “Paris” in The Paris Apartment, not that it really matters. Most of the events are restricted to the apartment building and its residents, most of whom aren’t particularly likable.

This is my third Lucy Foley novel and I found it marginally better than either The Hunting Party or The Guest List (both of which were average reads for me). At the 25% mark I was hooked, halfway in I felt let down but thankfully, the final 25% of the novel really picks up the pace. The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley is atmospheric and suspenseful up to a point but soon the plot does feel a bit contrived. Some of the ‘twists’ aren’t really ‘twisty’ (a few I found downright ridiculous) and much of the final reveal isn’t completely unpredictable though the build-up is gripping enough. Though the pace drags a bit in the middle, the chapters are short, it reads fast and is not unnecessarily lengthy. Overall though I didn’t dislike Lucy Foley’s The Paris Apartment, I’m yet to be truly impressed by any of her novels.