The Dry by Jane Harper

The Dry

by Jane Harper

Jane Harper's new novel, The Survivors, is now available for pre-order

WINNER OF THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS CRIME THRILLER BOOK OF THE YEAR 2018
WINNER OF THE CWA GOLD DAGGER AWARD 2017
Amazon.com's #1 Pick for Best Mystery & Thriller 2017

'One of the most stunning debuts I've ever read...Read it!' David Baldacci

'Packed with sneaky moves and teasing possibilities that keep the reader guessing...The Dry is a breathless page-turner' Janet Maslin, New York Times

WHO REALLY KILLED THE HADLER FAMILY?


I just can't understand how someone like him could do something like that.


Amid the worst drought to ravage Australia in a century, it hasn't rained in small country town Kiewarra for two years. Tensions in the community become unbearable when three members of the Hadler family are brutally murdered. Everyone thinks Luke Hadler, who committed suicide after slaughtering his wife and six-year-old son, is guilty.

Policeman Aaron Falk returns to the town of his youth for the funeral of his childhood best friend, and is unwillingly drawn into the investigation. As questions mount and suspicion spreads through the town, Falk is forced to confront the community that rejected him twenty years earlier. Because Falk and Luke Hadler shared a secret, one which Luke's death threatens to unearth. And as Falk probes deeper into the killings, secrets from his past and why he left home bubble to the surface as he questions the truth of his friend's crime.

Praise for The Dry

'Spellbinding' Ian Rankin

'Riveting' Mail on Sunday

'Stunningly atmospheric' Val McDermid

Reviewed by rohshey on

4 of 5 stars

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What a wonderful atmospheric thriller.

This sharply plotted mystery begins when a man returns to the small, insular drought-plagued farming town he fled as a teenager, falsely accused of a crime he didn't commit. You can almost feel the hot, gritty weight of the past as well as the burden of a half forgotten friendship that brings Aaron Falk home again in this engrossing novel, and be surprised right up to its dramatic conclusion.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 1 May, 2017: Finished reading
  • 1 May, 2017: Reviewed