Apples Never Fall

#1 New York Times Bestseller
A Peacock Original TV Series

"Gripping."―Oprah.com

From Liane Moriarty, the bestselling author of Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers, comes Apples Never Fall, a novel that looks at marriage, siblings, and how the people we love the most can hurt us the deepest.

The Delaney family love one another dearly―it’s just that sometimes they want to murder each other..

If your mother was missing, would you tell the police? Even if the most obvious suspect was your father?
This is the dilemma facing the four grown Delaney siblings.

The Delaneys are fixtures in their community. The parents, Stan and Joy, are the envy of all of their friends. They’re killers on the tennis court, and off it their chemistry is palpable. But after fifty years of marriage, they’ve finally sold their famed tennis academy and are ready to start what should be the golden years of their lives. So why are Stan and Joy so miserable?

The four Delaney children―Amy, Logan, Troy, and Brooke―were tennis stars in their own right, yet as their father will tell you, none of them had what it took to go all the way. But that’s okay, now that they’re all successful grown-ups and there is the wonderful possibility of grandchildren on the horizon.

One night a stranger named Savannah knocks on Stan and Joy’s door, bleeding after a fight with her boyfriend. The Delaneys are more than happy to give her the small kindness she sorely needs. If only that was all she wanted.

Later, when Joy goes missing, and Savannah is nowhere to be found, the police question the one person who remains: Stan. But for someone who claims to be innocent, he, like many spouses, seems to have a lot to hide. Two of the Delaney children think their father is innocent, two are not so sure―but as the two sides square off against each other in perhaps their biggest match ever, all of the Delaneys will start to reexamine their shared family history in a very new light.

Liane Moriarty is the author of the #1 New York Times bestsellers Big Little Lies, The Husband’s Secret, and Truly Madly Guilty; the New York Times bestsellers Nine Perfect Strangers, What Alice Forgot, and The Last Anniversary; The Hypnotist’s Love Story; and Three Wishes. She lives in Sydney, Australia, with her husband and two children.

“Liane Moriarty hits an ace in Apples Never Fall.”
―The Associated Press

"Game, Set, Murder. . . . Liane Moriarty's next blockbuster novel Apples Never Fall [is] a high-wire act that blends marital drama, a long con, a potential murder―and competitive tennis. Everything Liane Moriarty touches turns to gold. . . . The Australian author's next project, which is already destined for the small screen, is a throwback to her best-known―and most beloved―material: family secrets."
―Entertainment Weekly

"Moriarty tells a great story, understands her characters and cares about them, too. Readers who have kept up with her books will adore Apples Never Fall, and readers just discovering Moriarty will seek out her previous titles after savoring this fresh, juicy tale."
― The Washington Post

"Do yourself a favor and read this ASAP 'cause it'll likely be everyone's next binge-worthy TV obsession by next year. The author of Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers returns with another unputdownable book about what it really means to be family."
―E! Online

"[Liane Moriarty] cements herself as a master of mystery, using every detail in her tangled narrative web to keep the reader guessing until the final shocking twist."
―Vulture

"Combines domestic realism and noirish mystery. . . . The structure follows the pattern of Big Little Lies by setting up a mystery and then jumping months into the past to unravel it. Funny, sad, astute, occasionally creepy, and slyly irresistible."
―Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Moriarty is at her best. . . . No clue is left abandoned, not even in the chilling final chapter."
―Booklist (starred review)

"I loved it. An absolute page-turner with all the wit and nuance that put Liane Moriarty head and shoulders above the crowd. Liane Moriarty shows once again why she leads the pack."
―Jane Harper, New York Times bestselling author of The Dry and The Survivors

“Moriarty has an eye for the telling details that rivals Anne Tyler’s―and a knack for building suspense. This tale of a tennis mom gone missing will keep you guessing.”
―People Magazine, "Best Books Fall 2021 Must-Reads"

"A wifty tale of domestic suspense, and a satisfying, layered family drama where the tension comes from the treachery of memory, the specter of generational violence and the effects of decades’ worth of unspoken resentments that have curdled over time. . . . Moriarty once again shows her mastery with the inner working of women."
―The New York Times Book Review

“Liane Moriarty devotees, rejoice!”
―CNN

“Joy Delaney has gone missing ― and her husband, Stan, seems like the most likely suspect. Two of their grown children think he’s probably guilty, two think he’s innocent, and everyone seems to be squaring off against each other in this delicious family drama.”
―New York Post

“With Moriarty’s trademark humor and smart insights about families, this entertaining, twisty read will keep you guessing until the final page.”
―Real Simple

Praise for Liane Moriart

Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty is a character-driven mystery and family drama that follows the seemingly ordinary Delaney family as their carefully constructed lives begin to unravel. At the center are Joy and Stan Delaney, a retired couple who once ran a successful tennis academy and raised four children: Amy, Logan, Troy, and Brooke. From the outside, they look like the classic suburban success story—comfortable home, grown children, long marriage, shared passion for tennis. But underneath that polished surface, there are old resentments, unspoken disappointments, and a lifetime of small hurts that have never really been resolved. When Joy suddenly goes missing, all of those buried tensions rise to the surface, and the Delaneys are forced to confront both the past and the possibility that someone they love may be responsible.

The story moves back and forth between the present, after Joy’s disappearance, and the past months leading up to it. In the present timeline, the police investigate Joy’s vanishing and quickly begin to suspect Stan. There is no clear evidence, but the picture that emerges of their marriage is not the simple, happy one everyone assumed. The four adult children are pulled into the investigation, and each of them struggles with conflicting feelings: loyalty to their father, fear of what he might have done, and guilt about their own distance from their mother. The siblings’ relationships with each other are complicated. Amy is sensitive and messy, often seen as the “unstable” one, floating between jobs and phases. Logan is quieter and more cautious, stuck in a relationship that lacks passion. Troy is the high achiever, wealthy and successful, but also arrogant and emotionally closed off. Brooke, the youngest, is a physiotherapist battling financial difficulties and a failing marriage. All four have their own lives, yet they are irresistibly pulled back into the family drama as the mystery deepens.

The Delaneys’ story takes a sharp turn when a stranger named Savannah shows up one night at Joy and Stan’s door. She claims she has just fled an abusive relationship and has nowhere else to go. Joy, who has always longed for more connection and excitement, is immediately sympathetic and invites Savannah in. Stan is wary, but Joy convinces him to let her stay temporarily. Savannah quickly becomes part of their household, cooking, helping around the house, and showing a surprising talent for tennis. Joy feels energized by her presence, as if their home has come alive again, while Savannah seems to fill a space that Joy didn’t fully realize was empty. However, Savannah’s arrival marks a turning point, and from there, the balance in the Delaney family begins to shift.

As Savannah settles in, she starts to blur boundaries, becoming closer to Joy while also paying special attention to Stan’s tennis legacy. She hints at a difficult past and a troubled upbringing, but her stories don’t always line up. The Delaney children are suspicious of her, feeling she is intruding into their family dynamic and perhaps manipulating their parents. Old frustrations are stirred up among the siblings, particularly their complicated feelings about growing up in a house where tennis dominated everything—training, expectations, pressure to succeed. Some of them feel that Stan was too harsh as a coach and father, while others feel grateful for the discipline and opportunities he gave them. Joy, meanwhile, often felt caught in the middle, wanting to support Stan’s dreams and the academy but also seeing the emotional cost to the children.

The novel explores how the family’s shared history affects the way they react to Joy’s disappearance. The police, and even the children, begin to question Stan’s temper and his old-school toughness. There are hints of past moments where Stan’s behavior tipped from strict to potentially cruel in the context of coaching. This raises the frightening possibility that, in a moment of anger, he might have hurt Joy. The siblings recall specific incidents from their childhood—harsh training sessions, injuries, and times when they felt neglected or pushed too hard—all of which color their view of their parents now. Their memories, however, are not always reliable. Moriarty cleverly shows how each sibling has their own version of the past, shaped by personality and experience, and how those versions conflict and overlap.

Interwoven with the mystery are the everyday details of the siblings’ lives. Amy struggles with mental health and identity. Logan wrestles with the safe but unsatisfying routine he has created for himself. Troy tries to maintain the image of success while failing at emotional intimacy. Brooke battles a sense of failure both professionally and personally. As they gather to discuss the investigation and their parents, their conversations reveal old rivalries, alliances, and long-standing misunderstandings. They lash out at one another, but they also share moments of connection and vulnerability. The disappearance forces them to question not just what happened to Joy, but who they are as a family and as individuals.

Savannah’s role remains mysterious for much of the story. She appears both fragile and manipulative, and the reader is never fully sure whether she is a genuine victim seeking kindness or someone with darker intentions. The tension grows as small clues suggest she may know more about Joy’s disappearance than she admits. At the same time, pieces of her backstory are revealed, showing a deeply damaged person who may be driven by resentment and a longing to belong. Her presence acts as a catalyst, exposing cracks that were already there in the Delaney marriage and family structure.

As the truth begins to emerge, the novel reveals that Joy’s disappearance is not the simple crime the police initially suspect. Instead, it is tied to misunderstandings, secrets, and the complicated ways love and frustration coexist in long relationships. Joy, who often felt overlooked or taken for granted, eventually reaches a breaking point. The resolution brings together the various threads—Savannah’s past, Stan’s temper, the children’s memories, and Joy’s inner emotional life—to show how easily people can misinterpret each other when they rely on partial truths and hidden feelings. The outcome is less about shocking violence and more about emotional fallout, regret, and the difficulty of truly knowing even those closest to us.

In the end, Apples Never Fall is as much about family and perception as it is about solving a mystery. It shows how a family can look perfect from the outside yet be full of unresolved pain on the inside, and how love can coexist with anger and disappointment. The book uses the structure of a missing-person case to explore marriage, parenthood, aging, sibling rivalry, and the long shadow cast by childhood expectations. Liane Moriarty blends suspense with warmth and insight, making the reader care not only about what happened to Joy, but also about how each member of the Delaney family learns to face the truth about themselves and one another.