“Luke lied. You lied. Be at the funeral.”Aaron Falk has returned to Kiewarra, his hometown that he hasn’t seen in 20 years. His best childhood friend, Luke, has apparently killed himself and his family in a murder-suicide and Falk has come to the funeral to pay his respects….as well as to find out what Luke’s father meant by that note he sent insisting that Aaron attend the funeral.
Twenty years ago, teenage Aaron and his father fled the small town of Kiewarra to get away from the threats and small-mindedness of the people who thought Aaron had killed a teenage girl. Now living in Melbourne, working as a Federal Agent investigating fiscal crimes, Aaron has left Kiewarra behind – or at least he thought he did. As soon as he showed up at the church for the funeral, the tongues started wagging and the sidelong glances were quickly cut away when Aaron met their eyes.
Luke’s mother is convinced that her son did not murder his family and has asked Aaron to stay around for a few days to look into it. Aaron reluctantly agrees.
The Dry takes place in Kiewarra a small town that has been ravaged by drought. The landscape is dry as tinder and livestock is slaughtered rather than wait for them to die of starvation and thirst. There is a sense of hopelessness and desperation in the people of the town as one after another, local farms are lost, small businesses are shuttered and there is no relief in sight. The author, Jane Harper, did an amazing job of setting the location of the story as I could envision the dead and dying fields, the haunted eyes of the people.
This is a great debut novel and is set to be the first in a series featuring Aaron Falk. I will definitely be looking for more from this author.
Rating: 4.5 stars
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