The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley, narrated by Clare Corbett, Daphne Kouma, Julia Winwood, Sope Dirisu, Sofia Zervudachi, and Charlie Anson, is considered a locked door mystery, but don’t be fooled because people do leave these apartments.
Jess is on her way to visit her half-brother Ben in Paris after enduring the unwanted advances of her boss. She has little recourse as she was the child who bounced around from foster family to foster family and Ben was selected for adoption by a richer family who only wanted one child. His charms won them over. It is clear that there is something amiss with Ben and how he interacts with the world. Even in this initial description of him by his half-sister, it is clear he looks out for himself.
When Jess arrives, Ben is not answering his phone and she has to tailgate behind someone who lives there and has an access code. Heading up to the apartment, Jess senses that something is wrong, and upon entering he is no where to be found. While she tells herself he must have gone out and will be back, it becomes increasingly clear that something he was working on as a journalist may have led to his disappearance.
Told in multiple points of view, Foley is introducing a number of suspects with their foibles, anger and addiction issues, and their unresolved trauma. Each neighbor adds a new perspective on Ben and his actions, with Nick, the nice guy, the one with the most to lose in the eyes of his father. None of these people are particularly nice to Jess and are not eager to answer her questions.
Everyone is hiding something, and Jess has to enlist outside help to uncover the mystery before it is too late. So, yes, Jess does leave the apartment, as do other characters – not a locked door mystery like I’ve read in the past. There also is no detective, unless you could Jess and Ben’s editor.
What I liked was each character and story, what I wasn’t too happy with was Jess. She’s so naive for someone who has worked in seedy bars. How did she find herself drugged with a drink? Either it is a lack of sleep or all her savvy knowledge was just talk. She doesn’t really know her brother well, and honestly, it is hard to buy that she would invest so much time into the search. She barely knew him and he left her without a fight when they were kids after their parents died.
The mystery is intriguing, and unraveling it with these strange characters was fun. But at the same time, I think Alma Katsu’s The Fiend was more believable in its ending than this book. I’m not going to spoil this one, but the ending was too neatly tied up!
The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley is an enjoyable mystery with some crazy characters. I just wish the ending was more believable.
RATING: Quatrain
