How Does 'All Things Cease To Appear' End?

The ending of 'All Things Cease to Appear' is haunting and leaves you unsettled. George Clare, the manipulative husband, gets away with his wife Catherine's murder, slipping through the cracks of justice due to his charm and the lack of concrete evidence. The story jumps forward years later, showing George living a quiet, unremarkable life, never facing consequences for his crime. Meanwhile, the house where the murder happened remains a silent witness, its dark history lingering. The real gut-punch is how Catherine's daughter, Franny, grows up oblivious to the truth, raised by George, who gaslights her into believing Catherine's death was a tragic accident. The ending doesn't offer closure—just a chilling reminder that evil often walks free.

The finale of 'All Things Cease to Appear' is a masterclass in psychological tension and unresolved dread. George Clare's calculated murder of his wife Catherine isn't some dramatic showdown—it's cold, methodical, and terrifyingly ordinary. The police investigation goes nowhere because George plays the grieving husband perfectly, and small-town biases work in his favor. Years later, he's remarried, living a bland existence, while Catherine's memory fades into obscurity.

What makes the ending profound is the ghostly subtext. The house itself seems to remember Catherine, with subtle supernatural hints suggesting her presence lingers. Franny, now a teenager, senses something 'off' about her father but can't articulate it. The novel doesn't spoon-feed answers; instead, it leaves you with the suffocating weight of injustice. The real horror isn't the murder—it's how life moves on, how monsters blend in, and how truth gets buried under layers of time and indifference.

For those who appreciate atmospheric, character-driven endings, this one sticks with you. If you liked this, try 'The Little Stranger' by Sarah Waters—another slow-burn ghost story where the haunting is more emotional than supernatural.

I've read a lot of crime novels, but 'All Things Cease to Appear' stands out because its ending defies expectations. There's no grand confrontation or last-minute twist where the killer is exposed. George gets away with it—plain and simple. The brilliance lies in how the author, Elizabeth Brundage, mirrors real-life cases where charismatic criminals evade punishment. The final scenes show George remarried, his new wife unknowingly living with a murderer, while Franny, now a moody teen, occasionally glimpses the darkness beneath her father's façade.

The house plays a silent but vital role in the ending. Its creaks and shadows hint at Catherine's unresolved rage, but the supernatural elements are subtle enough to make you question if it's just grief manifesting. The last pages leave you with a hollow feeling—not from cheap shock value, but from the brutal realism of how easily evil can hide in plain sight.

If you're into morally ambiguous endings, check out 'Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead' by Olga Tokarczuk. It's another story where justice isn't served neatly, leaving you to wrestle with the aftermath.