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The Paris Apartment

Lucy Foley

Start date: July 1, 2022

Finish date: July 31, 2022

Discussion: Group Books of the Month (BotM)

Why we're reading this: Chosen my members as our group BotM for July 2022.
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What Members Thought

Feb 26, 2022 Amy rated it liked it

Readers depart on a cat-and-mouse adventure where the author and characters are playing games. While solving a mystery, another pops up in its place. Penned in the same style as 'The Guest List' the fast-paced story and short chapters offer glimpses into the story but purposely doesn't provide answers.

The second half is where a high-speed chase ensues and as a tip, try to read that section in one sitting. Stopping and starting takes away from the story and readers fill find themselves strugglin Readers depart on a cat-and-mouse adventure where the author and characters are playing games. While solving a mystery, another pops up in its place. Penned in the same style as 'The Guest List' the fast-paced story and short chapters offer glimpses into the story but purposely doesn't provide answers.

The second half is where a high-speed chase ensues and as a tip, try to read that section in one sitting. Stopping and starting takes away from the story and readers fill find themselves struggling to regain its momentum.

This is one of those rare books that you love and hate at the same time. I love Lucy Foley's books but "The Paris Apartment' was so disturbing that it didn't have the brevity or quirky charm of her previous novels.

Even when past characters were flawed, you loved to hate them or rooted for them to succeed. I had trouble connecting with Foley's characters. With the exception of Jess and at times, Sophie, I'd wash my hands of the lot.

Check in to 'The Paris Apartment' but we careful as there's something suspicious and sinister lurking behind its luxurious façade. Jess is fleeing London and enlisted her brother, Ben's help in Paris. Upon arriving, she's confused that he was suppose to meet her and all traces of him have vanished.

Excerpt from "The Paris Apartment"

"I walk out into the main living space. The room looks even more like something from a museum in the light of day: you can see the dust motes hanging suspended in the air. And I’ve just spotted something I didn’t see last night. There’s a largish, lighter patch on the floorboards just a few feet before the front door. I walk toward it, crouch down. As I do the smell—the strange smell I noticed last night—catches me right at the back of the throat. A singe-the-nostrils chemical tang. Bleach. But that’s not all. Something’s caught here in the gap between the floorboards, glinting in the cold light. I try to wiggle it out with my fingers, but it’s stuck fast. I go and get a couple of forks from the drawer in the kitchen, use them together to pry it loose...
...more

14 likes · Like · see review

Jul 09, 2022 Karen D rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: thrillers, mystery, crime, surprise-twist, destructive-friendships, domestic-problems, detective, sex-crimes, murder

This didn't live up to The Guest List, in my opinion, but was still quick and I enjoyed the multiple POVs, and it ended up being delightfully dark.
*
Synopsis: Jess arrives in Paris, planning to stay with her brother, but when she arrives he's nowhere to be found, despite his keys and wallet remaining in the apartment. Jess tries to investigate his disappearance, but his neighbors don't seem interested in helping, and all appear to have their own secrets.
*
I got through this in about two days, it ...more

Like · see review