The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley
| The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley | |
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| Category: Thrillers | |
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Reviewer: Sue Magee
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| Summary: The location's changed from her previous two thrillers but the skill is all there. A cracker of a book. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 416 | Date: March 2022 |
| Publisher: Harper Collins | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 978-0008384982 | |
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Things are not what they seem.
It was a Friday and Jess Hadley was keen to get to her half-brother's flat in Paris. She'd come across from London on Eurostar, courtesy of the money she'd stolen from The Pervert's till in the Copacabana Bar in Brighton. It wasn't likely that the police would be on to her yet but she'd like to be somewhere safe and with food and drink inside her. She'd phoned Ben and got the address - 12 Rue des Amants - and he told her that the apartment was on the third floor. She's outside what's obviously a very upmarket building but she hasn't been able to get in touch with Ben.
Jess might be vulnerable but she's learned quite a few skills in her twenty-eight years. The man going into the grounds wasn't particularly careful about hiding the security code, so getting into the building wasn't difficult. Ben had taught his sister to pick locks, so it wasn't long before she was in the apartment. There's a stong smell of bleach and Ben doesn't seem to have any towels. Most worrying though was the fact that he seems to have gone out without his wallet and keys. But how do you get help when you're not to keen on making yourself known to the police? How do you cope with the fact that your French is very limited?
Nick Miller lived on the second floor. He and Benjamin Daniels had met when they were both at Cambridge. A chance encounter had let to Nick suggesting that he might like to rent the apartment one floor up in the building where he lived. Now he takes Jess to talk to a policman he knows and she's at least moderately hopeful that something will be done. The other residents of the building aren't quite so helpful. Sophie and Jacques Meunier who live in the penthouse are dismissive of the problem. Mimi (it should be Merveille, but what girl wants to be called Miracle?) lives on the 4th floor with her friend Camille. Mimi's in her teens and has poor impulse control. Camille's not much older and seems to be a party girl: they're not going to be much help. The final resident is Antoine - the man who failed to conceal the security code for the building on the night Jess arrived - is a drunk with vioent tendencies.
Then there's the old concierge, who sees everything and seems to be everywhere.
The Paris Apartment is a gloriously well-obseved psychological thriller. The plotting is what we've come to expect from Lucy Foley. I first encountered her skills when I read The Hunting Party. She has a particular skill of being able to create entirely credible characters, place them in a location which she brings vividly to life - and then to let them get on with their story. All the clues are there but I certainly didn't see the final twists - and there are a few. It's a cracker of a story.
I'd like to thank the publishers for letting Bookbag have a review copy.
If this book appeals, you might also enjoy Death on the Marais by Adrian Magson. We also liked the shifting view points in Her Perfect Family by Teresa Driscoll.
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