Joy Moody is Out of Time is a heartbreaking and layered novel about love, lies, and family

What happens when doing the wrong thing might actually be the most loving choice? That’s the central question at the heart of Joy Moody is Out of Time by Kerryn Mayne, a novel that blends quirky crime with an emotionally complex family story.

Behind the bubblegum-pink facade of Joyful Suds laundromat in Bayside, Australia, Joy Moody has been raising her twin daughters, Cassie and Andie, under a carefully constructed lie. For nearly twenty-one years, she’s told them a fantastical tale about their destiny, a story designed to protect them—but also one that has left them isolated from the world around them. When Joy is suddenly found dead on the twins’ twenty-first birthday, the truth unravels, and the girls are left to face a world they are utterly unprepared for.

At its heart, this is a story about family—who makes one, who defines one, and what we’re willing to risk for the people we love. Joy, a social worker, has seen firsthand the devastation caused by the failures of Australia’s care system (what we would call foster care in the U.S.). After a terrible mistake in one case led to tragedy, she made a desperate, illegal choice when she took in the newborn twins. If she had followed the “right” procedure, Cassie and Andie would likely have endured a childhood of neglect and suffering. Instead, she gave them a home and a mother’s love, even if it was built on deception.

But even as Joy saved her daughters, she failed them. Her fabricated stories created a cult-like existence, one where secrecy was survival and the outside world was treated as a threat. Cassie and Andie grow up sheltered but unequipped to navigate manipulation, cruelty, and exploitation when Joy is no longer there to protect them. Watching them stumble into adulthood—naïve, vulnerable, but resilient—is both heartbreaking and hopeful.

One of the most moving aspects of the book is the way it highlights the role of community. Joy tried to keep her neighbors at a distance to protect her secret, but those same neighbors ultimately step in when the twins are left adrift. They become the kind of family blood relatives often fail to be, showing that sometimes, the people who love you best aren’t the ones you’re related to.

Joy Moody is Out of Time is a layered, morally complex story that pushes readers to question who gets to decide what’s right or wrong. It’s about secrets, survival, and sacrifice—but also about how love can take unexpected forms, and how family can be found in the unlikeliest places.

If you like crime novels that balance intrigue with emotional depth, this one will keep you reading—and questioning—until the final page.

💬 Have you read Joy Moody is Out of Time? What do you think makes a family—blood, law, or love? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

An advance reader copy of this book (ARC) was provided to me by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Related Content

• From police force to published author (Australian Writers’ Centre)
• Burnt out by work and kids, and searching for a hobby, Kerryn wrote a bestseller (The Age)
• I gave birth to twins, and it inspired a crime novel (The Sydney Morning Herald)
• Review: Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder by Kerryn Mayne (Book Junkie Reviews)

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Now that Jack has been forced to reflect on everything he has to lose, he resolves to do better. He’s determined to spend more time at home with his family and repair the relationships that have suffered over the years while he’s been so focused on work. But as Callie’s behavior becomes increasingly bizarre, Jack realizes he has a lot more room to improve than he realized – and it might be too late to save his daughter after all.

For fans of We Need to Talk About Kevin, The Push, and Baby Teeth.