The most underrated book of 2023 was a cozy crime by Kerryn Mayne called Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder.
It sort of got lost in all the gloss and publicity of all the Richard Osman books which was a real shame as it could definitely stand on its own two feet and deserved a seat at the table.
Joy Moody is another comedically sharp crime in the style of the old fashioned farce full of wit and verve.
On her twin daughters’ twenty-first birthday, Joy Moody, proprietor of Bonbeach’s premier laundromat, is found dead, yet that is not the strangest thing happening behind the bright pink facade of Joyful Suds.
For much of their lives, Joy has been telling Cassie and Andie one big, fat lie: that they are from the future, and that when they turn 21 they will travel back to the year 2050.
What started as a colourful tale to explain how the girls came to live with her has now become a decade long deception – worse still, Joy has started to believe it herself.
The lie is certainly preferable to the truth she can’t face, about what happened to the girls’ real mother and how far Joy’s gone to keep them safe.
With the twins’ 21st birthday fast approaching, and with Andie starting to have doubts, time is fast running out for Joy Moody, in more ways than one.
Mayne gives us three narrators here – Joy and her two daughters.
We start on d-day and then go back a few weeks, at which;point the narrative moves forward fairly quickly and as the twins’ 21st birthday gets closer and they start to make pivotal changes in their lives, realising their time remaining is short.
Andie has discovered that her mother has been lying about their past and future but doesn’t understand why; Cassie knows she cannot believe both Joy AND Andie and is torn between the two people she loves most.
I am pleased that Mayne doesn’t draw out the inevitable moment of truth.
In some ways that’s when this story actually starts and when Joy’s story ends.
This story should be unfathomable, but we learn how Joy’s isolated the girls and they’ve accepted what they’ve been told.
Although often frustrated by their mother, she’s kept them safe and is obviously devoted to them.
This is a novel about family and love and Mayne offers a great support cast (of fellow misfits in the small shopping strip), reminding us that family are sometimes those we choose.
This is a book that could be baffling but isn’t; it’s bittersweet and ultimately heartwarming and another excellent offering by Mayne.
This book is certainly quirky and if you are happy to suspend reality its a great rollercoaster ride into motherhood and suburbia, full of dark humor and clever insightful observations into a riveting family drama.
Julie Chessman