Just Finished Reading: The Dry by Jane Harper (FP: 2016) [401pp] 

Australia, two years into the drought. Who could blame him for losing it? Going crazy? Killing his family and then himself? Horrible as it was people could understand, especially those in the small town of Kiewarra going through the same thing. Luke’s parents though, they couldn’t accept it. Not their son. They just couldn’t imagine him killing his wife, his son. No. But what other explanation was there? The police investigation was over. An open and shut case. Obvious. But still... It was Luke’s father who called Aaron Falk, a teenage friend who had left the town years earlier under a cloud of suspicion. Now in the Federal police looking into financial crime, he seemed the ideal person to look at the farms finances to see if anything stood out as a reason. Almost immediately questions started to appear. Why did the discarded shotgun shells not match anything on the farm? Why did Luke kill everyone except the 13-month-old baby? Guilt? Shame or something else? The more Aaron dug the more he found and he wasn’t alone. The new local cop had his suspicions too. But digging into the past, recent and distant, has consequences and some people want the past buried for good and for good reason. Be careful what you dig for... 

As usual I picked this up because it looked ‘different’ and that it languished in a pile of books for the best part of 10 years. Part of the reason I then picked it up was that it was based in Australia (adding variation to my fictional world tour) and that Sarah was enthusing about it over on her Blog. I was, to say the least, not disappointed. This novel had a wonderful sense of place, and you could almost FEEL the moisture being pulled out of you as you turned the pages. You feel Aaron’s shock of returning home to an area he knew so well now devastated by years long drought. There’s also a real feeling of animosity with some of the people he left behind. The author really gets across the complexity of emotions in all of her characters, and you KNOW how much I like good/great characterisation which we have here in spade!  

The mystery itself is very, very good. Although I had my suspicions about the killer, I also had similar suspicions of other residents that didn’t pan out (obviously). It's always great when you’re kept guessing to the end and the reveal isn’t a rabbit out of the hat gimmick but makes complete sense but you still didn’t see it coming. I don’t think I can fault this in any meaningful way – or at all actually! A good solid mystery, very good characterisation, a solid main character, good dialogue... and a quick read – so much so that I found myself slowing down to saviour it more. I could ask for a better more entertaining read and count this as one of the highlights of the year so far. Even better there’s a pair of sequels and I already own the first one. Definitely recommended to anyone who’s looking for a bloody good mystery thriller.  

[Highest page count of the year so far: 401pp][+2pp]