I was sorry not having downloaded a sample

Didn’t know this author and the synopsis sounded good but I stopped listening after half an hour. The characters were so cliché: the messy stepsister, the haughty concierge. Meh.
Maybe the story was good.

15 people found this helpful

Give Paris a Miss

I found this quite boring. Didn't like the different voices who read the story and found the whole thing a disappointment.

11 people found this helpful

Utter drivel.

Save your money, it's a shocker! An obvious plot with an obvious ending, come on Lucy you can do so much better!

9 people found this helpful

Très underwhelming - not a patch on Hunting Party

I loved "The Hunting Party" loved the idea of "The Guest List" but did find it rather contrived and increasingly hard to swallow but "The Paris Apartment" is much much worse.

Loved the premise, was all on board for a jolly jaunt as longing for a holiday albeit a virtual one and I struggled on, through the comedic French accents until the first twist which was frankly a little hard to believe, but I let that go, hoping things would get better ... sadly, they did not.

Things instead took a turn for The Famous Five/Hardy Boys Mysteries and then the reveal of the big secret ..... no spoilers of course but it was just like ...

1) Is this really meant to be set in open minded, sophisticated, modern day Paris?

2) Why was no research done as even I have seen a couple of documentaries and this is such a naive, ill-informed and ridiculous portrayal of something very grubby and brutal. 3) Practically speaking, I cannot imagine how it could be such a huge source of revenue - it sounded more like a Toulouse-Lautrec fever dream set around the times of the Folies Bergère opening in1869 than the 2020s.

3) How can you blackmail someone for something that is public knowledge and really sounds like a totally implausible scenario anyway? Again this might have been scandalous at some stage in Paris and indeed it might have been possible to keep this under wraps at some stage in history but not for a very long time.

There are more questions which could be asked - What are the chances someone brings you a pair of shoes to wear and they are the right size and "surprisingly comfortable"? I even think the cat changed colours from being grey and white to black and white but I am so worn out at this stage I cannot be bothered to go back and find out, as it is far more plausible compared with the other impossible and unbelievable shenanigans in this book.

So yes, much ado about nothing. Things are not what they seem - so what? So many unremarkable skeletons in the unlikable and unlikely characters' closets. The appalling stereotypical characters themselves, The big secret is like "Really?" Romance trying to show up and be counted for extra interest.... and that is without the clunky narration which is truly comedic at times.

I think one of the worst things really was the characters as they were all so one dimensional and cliched - narration was good for Jess and Nick, Mimi was not too bad if you like the old "Loulou" perfume commercials of yesteryear but far too OTT to be believable, but then who could have read most of her dialogue with a straight face anyway I suppose. As for the concierge and Madame of the penthouse ... oh dear, the former like something from a Hammer House of Horror production circa 1973 and the other jumped in and out of her French accent with the grim determination of someone holding onto a window ledge. It was truly painful.

In fairness it is not that the book was it was so terribly terribly bad, especially compared with many poorly written "thrillers" with giant plot holes - it is just it was not very good and just such a disappointment for those of us who were hoping "The Guest List" was a dip and this would be another "The Hunting Party" instead of a fluffy fright of French fancy, poorly researched with unlikable pantomime characters and unbelievable melodramatic events more suited to a historical novel.

I really cannot be bothered to think about this book any more, I have enjoyed episodes of "Murder She Wrote" more, back in the day. Will I risk another Lucy Foley "Thriller"? It had better be very very good for me to take another chance.

So yes a swing and a sad, muffled thump as the plot collapsed and dragged itself off stage left, rickety scenery all a quiver, to an end I will never know as I have given up and returning swiftly. Au Revoir!

8 people found this helpful

STUNNING!

All I can say is that Lucy Foley just gets better and better, I have enjoyed all three of her books but The Paris Apartment is spectacular! A real tour de force.

3 people found this helpful

Gripping and suspenseful!

My first introduction to Lucy Foley's literature. I was impressed. The Parisienne setting worked well with the plot.The mystery was intriguing throughout, it was a very good storyline and all the Narrators were good ,especially the one who spoke as the main part, Jess.I couldn't stop listening to this audible and was glad I added it to my Library as it had been on my Wish List for ages.

1 person found this helpful

Fantastic book but…

I really wish the author hadn’t used the C word so many times throughout the book. It just wasn’t necessary. The storyline itself is fantastic as were the performances, but the prolific use of that swear word was such a let down.

1 person found this helpful

Just amazing book! Congratulations!

From the beginning ti the end of the book I didn’t have a moment of boredom. On the contrary! The more I listened, the more I wanted to know. The story is well crafted, the characters revealed themselves little by little, but the end is no less surprising. I highly recommend it.
Andreia Nuno, my daughter is going to love it too, I’m sure of it.

1 person found this helpful

I am waiting for the movie

I loved this story! I gave it to a friend after reading it. Douze points.

1 person found this helpful

Not worth your time

Pretty dreadful. Painfully slow plot, where you find yourself in disbelief that the characters are so slow to work things out. Had to speed up to the max to get through.
Repetitive writing style, lazy research, some French mistranslations and caricatural characters.