Rosie’s #Bookreview of Cultural #Thriller Set In #Australia THE DRY by Jane Harper

4 stars

The Dry is a crime thriller set in Australia.

Aaron Falk, a federal police officer, arrives in Kiewarra, a drought stricken rural town, for the funeral of his school friend. It has been twenty years since Aaron left. The heat is oppressive, the land dry as tinder and the people are angry about the effects of the drought on their lives. Luke Hadler, his wife and son are dead. The evidence suggests that Luke killed his family, then turned the gun on himself. However, not everyone believes the verdict. Luke’s baby daughter was left untouched. Falk also has his own problems, as he finds himself unwelcome in the town; twenty years ago he was a suspect in an unsolved drowning and people in the town have long memories. He plans to only stay a day, but Luke’s parents ask him to look at the case again. Instead he finds himself helping the local police and once again facing angry accusations.

The setting and atmosphere were so well-written: the strength sucking heat, the lack of water and the despair all felt tangible. I pictured myself right there in the dust, thirsty for a drink and deeply saddened by the human struggle to survive in such conditions. On top of this were the appalling murders in a community where few could keep secrets. They touched everyone and moved me as I read the story.

The unravelling of the murders was good, with plenty of twists, but for avid readers of the genre it might be easy for them to spot the culprit. I didn’t mind the slow pace of the investigation as clues were unpicked from the complex story sewn into the community. For me it was the harsh baked dry land that will stay with me for a long time.

View all my reviews on Goodreads

A small town hides big secrets in this atmospheric, page-turning debut mystery by award-winning author Jane Harper.

In the grip of the worst drought in a century, the farming community of Kiewarra is facing life and death choices daily when three members of a local family are found brutally slain.
Federal Police investigator Aaron Falk reluctantly returns to his hometown for the funeral of his childhood friend, loath to face the townsfolk who turned their backs on him twenty years earlier.
But as questions mount, Falk is forced to probe deeper into the deaths of the Hadler family. Because Falk and Luke Hadler shared a secret. A secret Falk thought was long buried. A secret Luke’s death now threatens to bring to the surface in this small Australian town, as old wounds bleed into new ones.

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