Review: THE PARIS APARTMENT, Lucy Foley

• this edition an e-book from Amazon (Kindle)
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08J6D7993
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperCollins (March 3, 2022)
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 412 pages 

Synopsis (Amazon) 

Unlock the mystery. Only you hold the key…

In a beautiful old apartment block, deep in the backstreets of Paris, secrets are stirring behind every resident’s door.

The lonely wife
The party animal
The curtain-twitcher
The secret lover
The watchful caretaker
The unwanted guest

There was a murder here last night.
Who holds the key to the mystery of apartment three?

My Take

Ben's half-sister Jess is arriving from London. She talks to Ben on the phone, but when she arrives at his very exclusive apartment building three hours later the gates are locked and he is gone.

Jess manages to find her way into the building and then into Ben's apartment which she know is on the third floor.

The story focuses on Jess's search for Ben, her quest to find out what has happened to him. There are 5 apartments, plus a concierge's cabin. Ben is a journalist and Jess suspects that he is chasing a story but when she finds his wallet and the keys to his Moped she suspects foul play. She thinks perhaps the residents of the apartments know what has happened to him, but they are blocking her efforts at discovery.

Gradually Jess begins to discover what Ben has previously found out about the residents.

As with most of Foley's other books there are a couple of twists in the tale. There are multiple narratives, and a lot of juggling of past and present, just to keep the reader on his/her toes.

My rating: 4.7

I've also read

• 4.6, THE HUNTING PARTY
• 4.7, THE GUEST LIST
• 4.5, THE INVITATION

Review: THE INVITATION, Lucy Foley

• 
  This edition published 2016 by Harper Collins Publishers 
• ISBN: 9780007575381
  
• ISBN 10: 0007575386
• Pages: 432

Synopsis (publisher)

It’s 1951. In Europe’s post-war wreckage, the glittering Italian Riviera draws an eclectic cast of characters; lured by the glamour but seeking an escape.

Amongst them, two outcasts: Hal, an English journalist who’s living on his charm; and Stella, an enigmatic society beauty, bound to a profiteering husband. When Hal receives a mysterious invitation from a wealthy Contessa, he finds himself aboard a yacht headed for Cannes film festival.

Scratch the beautiful surface, and the post-war scars of his new companions are quick to show. Then there’s Stella, whose secrets run deeper than anyone’s — stretching back into the violence of Franco’s Spain. And as Hal gets drawn closer, a love affair begins that will endanger everyone…

The Invitation is an epic love story that will transport you from the glamour of the Italian Riviera, to the darkness of war-torn Spain. Perfect for fans of Kate Morton and Victoria Hislop.

My take

For my blog followers, I should first of all tell you, that this is not crime fiction, my usual fare. 

This book tells its story through a number of time frames, which makes it a challenging read.  In addition there are two main plot lines: the current story, and that of an old hand written journal. The author uses different type face too, presumably to help the reader decide which story you are reading.

Hal's initial invitation to a party being held by the Contessa comes from a friend who cannot go. The Contessa is throwing a party for her rich friends, trying to attract investment for a film based on part of her family history. Hal is a journalist who has been living in Rome since the end of the war. He manages by writing small pieces for a magazine but is in desperate need of work. At the party the Contessa takes a liking to him and promises to be in touch later. At the party he also meets Stella, who comes back to his flat with him - a one-night stand. 

Fifteen months later the Contessa contacts him. The Film is made, she has funding, it is being released at Cannes, and she needs a captive journalist. And so the Hal-Stella story begins.

The blurb says this is an "epic love story". It is also about infatuation, possession, and the impact of events in Europe, in particular Spain since the mid 1930s, on the lives of families and individuals.

My rating: 4.5

I've also read 

4.6, THE HUNTING PARTY
4.7, THE GUEST LIST

Review: THE GUEST LIST, Lucy Foley

• this edition published by Harper Collins UK 2020
• ISBN 978-0-00929717-6
• 374 pages
• source: my local library

Synopsis (Fantastic Fiction)

A wedding celebration turns dark and deadly in this deliciously wicked and atmospheric thriller reminiscent of Agatha Christie from the New York Times bestselling author of The Hunting Party.

The bride – The plus one – The best man – The wedding planner  – The bridesmaid – The body

On an island off the coast of Ireland, guests gather to celebrate two people joining their lives together as one. The groom: handsome and charming, a rising television star. The bride: smart and ambitious, a magazine publisher. It’s a wedding for a magazine, or for a celebrity: the designer dress, the remote location, the luxe party favors, the boutique whiskey. The cell phone service may be spotty and the waves may be rough, but every detail has been expertly planned and will be expertly executed.

But perfection is for plans, and people are all too human. As the champagne is popped and the festivities begin, resentments and petty jealousies begin to mingle with the reminiscences and well wishes. The groomsmen begin the drinking game from their school days. The bridesmaid not-so-accidentally ruins her dress. The bride’s oldest (male) friend gives an uncomfortably caring toast.

And then someone turns up dead. Who didn’t wish the happy couple well? And perhaps more important, why?

My Take

This is the thing about organising a wedding. I can put together a perfect day, as long as the guests play along, remember to stay within certain bounds. But if they don't, the repercussions can last longer than twenty-four hours. No one is capable of controlling that sort of fallout.

Sometimes we don't realise just how close we are to people.
We move "in the same circles" but don't see it.
The six degrees of separation theory states that any inhabitant of the Earth could meet anyone in the world with a maximum of six or fewer mutual connections between them and another person. Be it through acquaintances, friends, or members of their family.

Ostensibly what connects these wedding guests in the main is that they, the males at least, went to the same school, or knew each other from university days. And, in a sense they have never grown up. Several refer to what happened to them at school as being like something from The Lord of the Flies.
The female guests that we meet are mainly attached to the males. But there are some horrific threads lurking in the background, not acknowledged, all linked to one person, the one who ends up dead.

From the middle of this story, thread by thread is revealed, but the most horrendous one, the one that finally ends in murder, does not come out until the last few pages.

Highly recommended.

My rating: 4.7

I've also read
4.6, THE HUNTING PARTY

Review: THE HUNTING PARTY, Lucy Foley

• this edition published by Harper Collins 2019
• ISBN 978-0-00-829712-1
• 389 pages
• source: my local library

Synopsis (publisher)

The beautiful one
The golden couple
The volatile one
The new parents
The quiet one
The city boy
The outsider

The victim.

Not an accident – a murder among friends.

My take

They've been meeting every New Year's weekend for as long as most of them have known each other, and everyone has agreed that this remote location north of Fort William in Scotland is the best ever.

Four days in Highland wilderness in cabins and a lodge near Loch Corrin. It's very exclusive, nine guests and the gamekeeper and the manager.

Right from the beginning of the book, on 2nd January 2019,  we know there is a body, but we don't know who it is or, for most of the time, whether it is male or female.

The narration hops around the time frame from 30 December to 2nd January, and from narrator to narrator. So we see events from several sets of eyes, but events don't necessarily overlap.  The guest is reported missing on New Year's Day and the gamekeeper finds the body early the next day.

I must admit to worrying about whether I would find the structure of the novel confusing, but it certainly gives the reader an "insider's view" of the relationships between the characters.  It also preserves the anonymity of the victim, because the person keeps contributing to the narration right up to the end.

A good read.

My rating: 4.6

About the author
Lucy Foley studied English Literature at Durham and UCL universities. She then worked for several years as a fiction editor in the publishing industry – during which time she also wrote The Book of Lost and Found. Lucy now writes full-time, and is busy travelling (for research, naturally) and working on her next novel.Visit her Facebook page at www.facebook.com/LucyFoleyAuthor and follow her on Twitter @LucyFoleyTweets and Instagram @Lucy_F_Author