The Paris Apartment is a slow burn psychological thriller by Lucy Foley told from multiple points of view. The novel is set (you guessed it) in Paris while riots are breaking out in the city.

It’s not about where you came from. What kind of shit might have happened to you in the past. It’s about who you are. What you do with the opportunities life presents to you.

Jess leaves London after an altercation with her boss and goes to stay with her brother in his Paris apartment. When she gets there brother Ben is no where to be found. At first she thinks he’s just gone away briefly, but then she finds blood on his cats fur, a bleach stain on the floor near the front door, his necklace that he never took off, and his motorbike with shredded tyres in the basement.

You know, I read somewhere that sixty percent of us can’t go more than ten minutes without lying. Little slippages: to make ourselves sound better, more attractive, to others. White lies to avoid causing offence. So it’s not like I’ve done anything out of the ordinary. It’s only human.

The cast of characters that live in the apartment block include an old friend of her brothers, a Parisienne socialite, a troubled teenager, an angry alcoholic and a concierge who sees all but says little. The building itself also develops a creepy character of its own as the story progresses. Jess soon discovers that the disperate residents and the apartment block itself are not what they first seemed.

It’s a beautiful building, but there’s something rotten at its heart. Now he’s discovered it he can smell the stench of it everywhere.

The Paris Apartment is an easy read with interesting character development and some unexpected twists. Themes include class, wealth, corruption, betrayal, unrequited love and inner demons.