The Paris Apartment – Lucy Foley

Summary

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.

Review

I love this book. Is it good? Not really; the plot lacks a lot, but I love the setting.

This was a reread, and funnily enough, my first time reading it was actually in April a year ago, and the atmosphere is so gothic and gives off the Parisian vibes so well for me (despite the weird French) that it incentivised me to learn a bit of basic French. Granted, I left it, but I’m picking it up again!

The dialogue form is a bit weird because Foley can’t decide between adding random French words to full-on English sentences, and, additionally, I have seen many native French-speaking people criticise the use of some swear words, like putain, incorrectly.

There are a lot of plot holes in this book and many loose ends, but I still very much enjoyed it solely because the author knows how to write a setting. This was also one of the strong points of The Guest List, although I didn’t like that book as much as this one.

Overall, I don’t think this is a book for everyone, but it’s my favourite Lucy Foley so far, and I’ll be checking out The Hunting Party next while waiting for The Midnight Feast.

As a final note, I absolutely recommend reading the full-casted audiobook; the great narrators and the accents elevate the book to a whole new level.

Click for spoilers!

The night Jess came to Paris, Mimi sneaked into Ben’s apartment because she had a crush on him, and she ended up snooping into his computer and everything he had found out about the Meunier’s. Ultimately, it was Jacques Meunier who attacked him and almost killed him until Mimi defended Ben and ultimately killed Jacques.

The concierge was Mimi’s grandmother, and with her help, Sophie, Nick, and Antoine cleaned Mimi up and covered over Jacques/Ben’s murder (Nick and Antoine thought the corpse was Ben, not their father).

In the end, Jess and Ben escape and help the Le Petit Mort girls get out of the business and expose LPM. Mimi is sent to the south of France, and presumably the concierge goes to follow her.