First of all I must apologise for being MIA. I can't believe my last post was the middle of May. I shortly after went on a much needed holiday, and then just ended up extending it. But I've missed the blog and have been doing a little planning and of course reading lots. Life lately has been very busy, we have celebrated the Queen's Jubilee which we marked with a street party in our lovely village. 'Between the Covers' the BBC series about books has started up again. I've already got a list of books I'd love to read. My TBR pile is still out of control and our village book group discussed poetry last night.

But for today let us ease ourselves in gently shall we? And we'll do this by talking about the latest release from one of the first authors I reviewed on the blog, Lucy Foley

Read my review of The Hunting Party

Lucy Foley has carved out a career for herself as a writer of slightly unusual page-turners. Unusual, because as well as trying to work out who the murderer is, we also need to work out who has actually been murdered! After the denseness of Anna Karenina, this was a welcome read.

The Plot

Welcome to No. 12 Rue des Amants.

A beautiful old apartment block, deep in the back streets of Montmartre, where nothing goes unseen and everyone has a story to unlock;

The Watchful concierge

The Scorned Lover

The Prying Journalist

The Naive Student

The Unwanted Guest

There was a murder here last night.

A Mystery lies behind the door of Apartment 3.

Who holds the Key?

My Thoughts

This turned out to be a perfect read for the early May Bank Holiday and I polished this off quite quickly staying in bed with a cup of Yorkshire Tea, thoroughly enjoying this page-turner.

I also have a particularly soft spot for Paris as it was the first holiday me and my husband took together. But Lucy Foley's Paris is different to our experience as a tourist. Here we see a seedier side, and the backdrop of the riots provide colour to the darkness of the apartment building.

The story is told mainly through the the eyes of Jess, whose brother Ben has gone missing from the chic Parisien flat on the night that Jess arrives in the city. Jess' story is combined with that of the other residents of No. 12, their narratives slowly building up a picture of events and the revealing of secrets leading up to Ben's disappearance on that fateful night.

Jess is a great character, resourceful with a difficult past, we feel her mounting panic as Ben first fails to turn up and she is greeted with hostility and rudeness by the No. 12 residents.

The feel of the novel reminded me strongly of 'Only Murders in the Building' the slick Netflix TV series set in a stunning New York apartment building where each of the residents hides a secret.

And indeed this novel is slick, fast-paced with a cast of worrying characters, any of which could have been involved in Ben's disappearance. I could not put it down.

So, if you are looking for a well-written fast-paced thriller, please do give this a go whilst sipping strong coffee and nibbling on a buttery croissant, it's brilliant fun. I'm already looking forward to seeing what Lucy Foley does next.