Apples Never Fall is a book that fans of Moriarty may love unreservedly, but which may perplex others.
The story begins rather slowly…with the disappearance of Joy Delaney.
Joy, along with her husband Stan, is a character who seems to have it all. A long marriage, four adult children, a successful tennis coach and embarking on retirement in a comfortable situation. Yet Joy disappears, leaving no note and a garbled text message to each of her children. Her husband has scratches on his face…and the detective investigating this case is, probably rightly, suspicious of the family and their reluctance to tell all.
The initial setting-up of the story felt odd, and it soon becomes apparent that there is more to this. A mysterious young woman arrived on the doorstep of the Delaney home, claiming to have been attacked by her boyfriend. They take her in, and she quickly becomes embedded in their nest.
The arrival of this cuckoo definitely stirs things up. We don’t learn the details quickly, but I was intrigued by the way these characters interacted and the shifting focus we had which allowed us – slowly – to start piecing things together.
While the story is not quite the dramatic one I thought it was going to be, I actually found myself liking it more because of the way it examined relationships and how our actions can impact on others even years down the line.
Without giving too much away, the ending had – for me – a wonderful conflict. There was happiness and acceptance on one hand and a chilling sense of a story yet to be uncovered.