The Paris Apartment - Lucy Foley

I've enjoyed Lucy Foley's previous books and was eager to listen to her newest - The Paris Apartment.

Jess needs to get away from her life in England. She calls her half brother Ben to see if she can stay with him in Paris for awhile and he reluctantly agrees. But when she arrives at his apartment building, he's not there and he's not answering his phone either. When she knocks on the neighbors' doors, the other residents of the building say they haven't seen him. They're definitely not a friendly bunch....

"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."

Well, I was hooked from the opening chapters! The Paris Apartment has that 'locked room' mystery feel to it - a premise I quite like. The apartment itself is older and that added to the ambiance. And yes, there's a cellar and an attic.....

Jess is tenacious in her hunt for Ben and I was firmly behind her. (But she's much braver than I would be!) Each resident of the building is given a voice - including Ben. And so the listener becomes privy to information that Jess doesn't have as she tries to locate Ben.

The journey to the final pages is on a dark and twisted road. Foley's plotting is clever, keeping the listener on their toes. Another great book from Foley!

I really enjoyed having a cast present The Paris Apartment. The narrators were Clare Corbett, Daphne Kouma, Julia Winwood, Sope Dirisu, Sofia Zervudachi and Charlie Anson. I'm not sure who did what role, but they all were excellent. The book takes place in Paris and the French accents were perfect, yet easy to understand. The voices employed suited the characters being played. Jess had a nice, low tone to her voice that drew the listener to her. The dangerous players all showed that threat with their voices. The tension of the plot was easily presented. For me, I know I always feel drawn into a story when I listen. And that was most definitely the case with The Paris Apartment. Hear for yourself - listen to an excerpt of The Paris Apartment.