The Dry by Jane Harper

Flatiron Books | January 2017 | 336 pgs

Source: Library

Luke lied. You lied. 

Four words. Yet they are powerful enough to send Federal agent Aaron Falk back to his hometown in Kiewarra where he grew up in twenty years. Luke Hadler, now dead and survived only by baby Charlotte, is believed to have murdered his wife and young son before ending his own life. Now stationed in Melbourne, Falk didn't want to return to Kiewarra despite what happened to his late childhood friend. Kiewarra has brought him too much bad memories; memories that remind him of Ellie Deacon's death and how he and his father were caught in the middle of it twenty years ago. With no concrete proof, the Falks were forced to leave Kiewarra with much contempt from its residents. Till this day, no one really knew what happened to Ellie on that fateful day she ended up drowned in the river. 

However, Aaron knew he owed it to Luke's parents; after all they treated him kindly like their own back then and he knew they all wouldn't rest until the truth surrounding Luke and his family's death came to light. Together with Sergeant Greg Raco who is looking into the case, they go through what's left of Luke's traces and found out that Kiewarra is filled with buried secrets and deceptions and that one could do anything to protect his back, even if it means murder. 

The Dry was one of the best books I read thus far. Part suspense and part police procedural, this story takes readers to the quiet suburb Kiewarra where its residents are threatened by the drought and how they are trying to make the best for their farming business. We have several suspects and at times they are linked with Ellie's death, considering her death remains a mystery and some residents aren't happy to see Aaron's return. 

This book is brilliant and well written in a sense that the story was well developed from the beginning with both the characterisation and the setting. Then suspense seeped in and the intensity rose like the searing heat; and by then the book was hard to put down because you just want to find out the truth. The Dry is Jane Harper's debut novel but it certainly didn't feel like one. I fell in love with Jane's writing and the way she plotted her story beautifully. I also liked it that how the two mysteries are woven together smoothly yet they are on its own and each has a story to tell. In the end, I was left with a hollow feeling not because the book was bad (I loved it, remember?) but how it affected me to see what the victims' had gone through with their wrongful death. The ending was beautifully done too; and I was satisfied to see not only one but both cases (Luke's and Ellie's) closed as well. Highly recommended.

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