But, Joy’s disappearance is so out of character and their Dad is well known to have a temper, but he couldn’t have hurt her. They are reluctant to tell the police in case the finger of suspicion falls on their father. There is a definite hierarchy within the Delaney children which comes to the fore with the disappearance of their mother. It explores sibling relationships and the complicated and unspoken rules within them. Told over dual timelines, Moriarty shows us an intricate portrait of a family and it’s history. Their dad is acting suspiciously and they know he is holding something back, but what? Where is Joy and why is Stan being so weird? And who is the young woman who stayed with Joy and Stan recently? She has texted her children to let them know she is going “off grid”, but nowhere is sure where she has gone to. The book opens with the disappearance of Joy. They continue to worry about their children though Troy who is a successful businessman, Amy, the eldest who suffers from mental health problems and doesn’t seem to be able to hold down a job, Logan who is solid and dependable and with a wonderful girlfriend and Brooke, the youngest who is a chronic migraine sufferer. Their children are all fully grown adding to their mounting feelings of loneliness. Joy and Stan have recently retired, selling the tennis school and have gone from spending their days being incredibly busy and juggling a million things to long, drawn out hours of doing nothing much in particular. They trained lots of the local kids alongside their own Amy, Logan, Troy and Brooke and family life and the tennis school were one and the same.

They are well known due to the tennis school which has been run from the family home for decades, by parents Joy and Stan.

As is usual in a Moriarty book it is about a group of people and their relationships with one another, in this case, the Delaney family. There’s a mystery, a very carefully laid trail of breadcrumbs and a family with a whole heap of history and secrets. Long term Moriarty fans will not be disappointed by this book as it features everything that makes her books so great. I needn’t have worried though as I loved Apples Never Fall and it is most definitely a return to form from this author.

I was a little nervous about reading Apples Never Fall her latest novel, as I felt that Nine Perfect Strangers, Moriarty’s last book, did miss the mark a little. I am huge fan of Liane Moriarty, have devoured every book she has written and have always waited impatiently for any new releases.

Liane moriarty apples never fall