Other Possible Prompts: 5. Chapters have titles, 22. An unlikely detective, 23. An author with an X, Y, or Z in their name, 25. A wealthy character, 33. A bilingual character, 52. Published in 2022

I finally got around to The Paris Apartment! I bought it on release day and my friends have been telling me to read it for months now, because they loved it so much. It doesn’t stand out to me as an incredible mystery/thriller, but it did have me constantly guessing and gasping out loud – so that’s a win in my book!

Jess arrives in Paris late one night to spend some time with her half-brother, Ben, at his apartment. As she stands at the gate, no one lets her in. When she finally makes her way into his flat, no one is home. With his keys and wallet left behind, Jess begins to feel something is off…Ben was expecting her just an hour before. Something is wrong. She begins to ask questions of the building’s other inhabitants – the rich woman in the penthouse, a lost and innocent young woman, Ben’s old friend, and an alcoholic – about his whereabouts, and ends up uncovering a mystery that goes far beyond her brother. Everyone has something to hide…no one is safe.

As many of the reviews say, pay attention to *everything* in this book. Every little detail is important, and you’ll find yourself going “OMG THAT’S WHY!!” over and over again while you read! That level of detail and craftsmanship in a novel is hella admirable, and incredibly difficult to find. Very, very well done on Foley’s part. Definitely makes me want to read another one of hers!

I couldn’t shake the feeling when I started this that it had Lock Every Door vibes, and the setting and the storyline actually do feel a bit similar even after finishing it. I actually feel like a lot of the books I’ve read as of late have that feeling about them, and that unmistakable feeling that it’s going to be a Murder on the Orient Express situation. When you can’t seem to pinpoint anyone’s innocence, you start to wonder if they might all be guilty. A lot of the thrillers I’ve picked up lately seem to be falling along those lines, but I thought this one was especially well done, even a cut above the others – including Lock Every Door. Her writing style and the mapped out storyline just feel more mature and thoughtful.

Jess is really the only character I genuinely liked, but I think I understood all of them in their own ways. It made the story all the more interesting when I didn’t really *like* someone, but I could understand why they were the way that they were. Jess was kind of a neutral, but I thought her sleuthing abilities were top notch. The story that unfolds will just keep on surprising you, and each character fits seamlessly into the narrative in their own way. Just don’t trust anyone.

The only thing keeping me from giving it five stars was the fact that it just didn’t totally wow me. Foley didn’t reinvent the wheel, but she wrote a damn good mystery. I want to read more of her books for sure, and maybe one of them will shock me so much it’ll earn my fifth star!

Have an awesome week friends!