Topspin or Backspin

 Liane Moriarty's novel, "Apples Never Fall", is a mystery.  The mother, Joy is missing.  She is a good mom.  Who would have killed her--if that's what happened.  Two detectives are assigned to this missing person account.

      The detectives listen to the neighborhood's gossip.  They hear that Joy's family is very competitive which mean jealously might be a motive.  Joy and Stan were tennis instructors. Even Joy's hairdresser tells tales of Joy's relationship with her husband Stan.  And a neighbor's video camera shows Stan throwing something "body-size" in his trunk.  

      Then there's Savannah.  The poor girl who literally dropped in the front door, hurt and bleeding.  There's something about her that doesn't ring true.  

      The plot unravel the four adult children's lives.  What a family!  

      But what happened to Joy?

      Sorry.  No spoilers.

The Last Spa You'll Ever Need

Nine Perfect Strangers is a new version of the story where a number of guests are invited to an English manor and one of them is murdered. Well...no one is murdered, but at one time there was the possibility that seven of them would be, and then there was the time that one of them might have been killed. Suspenseful? You bet!

And, funny!

The inner thought conversations each character has are hilarious at times, especially the initial reactions of the characters to each other. The characterization is very good. Each person is drawn to a precise picture. And I love how the author, Liane Moriarty, expands on the character's life, after the story line's completion.

The setting is a spa in Australia where seven people go for a health retreat. They are promised that their experiences will be life-altering. That does happen but not in the way anyone thought. Everyone lost weight (anyone would if what happened to them happened to you) and everyone appreciated life more (anyone would if what happened to them happened to you). But after a month everyone was back to their old habits. Instead of going to the spa everyone should have joined T.O.P.S. 

Close Call

Truly, Madly, Guilty, by Liane Moriarty is one of my book club, Argonauta's assignments. I had such a hard time getting into it, that I was wondering if I was going senile.  I just could get into it.  The plot revolves around three couple and I couldn't keep them straight.  Who's who?  Who's married to whom?

But as the day of the Argonauta's meeting approached, I sat down with the story and focused on just reading.  It is a good story.  Liane Moriarty drives you crazy with talk about an event, an earth shattering happening, something that changed the lives of the three couples.  She teases you because you think the next chapter contains the revelation.  But it never does.  Very late in the novel, everything will mesh.

It is a nail biter, easy to read, and the characters are people you know.  I mean they're believeable.  This would make a good beach book because its 400+ pages. And it really is a good book.

Happy Endings

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty is an easy read.  It's very enjoyable.  I loved the major character, Alice.  She's your best friend or the best friend you wish you had.  She suffers a concussion and her experiences living in the world that she doesn't remember are not only hilarious but interesting.  It all seems so real.

Her insightful re-seeing for the first time what had become her life was deliciously enjoyable.  She's horrified at what an exercise, health fanatic, that she had become.  Her personal life tugged at my heart strings.  Her wardrobe shocked her with its tasteful fashion sense.  Who knew?

All in all, I recommend the book.  It's fun.  It's memorable.  It's a keeper.