ARC Review – The Paris Apartment

From Goodreads:

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.

Foley has a fantastic and entertaining way of building up a mystery. I loved how this one was told. Similarly to The Guest list we get multiple perspectives each one representing a floor and a resident in this ancient and luxurious apartment block in Paris. It really let us get to know each of the characters. None of them are particularly likeable but that makes it so good as you are trying to puzzle out not only what exactly happened but also who could possibly be responsible as we learn more and more about the inhabitants of the building.

I also liked that she set this during the ‘gilet jaunes’ riots in Paris. It gave Paris a feeling of panic, riot, noise and fear that was juxtaposed with the ominous and quiet fear of the apartment block. It made the luxury of the apartments seem out of place and creepy, that they were slightly out of place and time. All of this adds together to create a really captivating plot, filled with twists I couldn’t even predict, just when I thought I had worked it out a curveball would be thrown in and change the whole thing. That made it really enjoyable.

I devoured this book, while the plot is subtle and slow moving the way the mystery builds throughout just makes it such a fantastic page turner. It took me just over a day to read this as I couldn’t put it down. I really enjoyed it and I can’t wait to see what comes next from Lucy Foley.