The Dry by Jane Harper

Overall 4.5/5
Australian
Crime

The town of Kiewarra in rural Australia is facing its second year without rain in The Dry by Jane Harper. As sometimes happens in times of terrible drought, families despair and so three members of the Hadler family end up dead – seemingly in a murder-suicide?

Policeman Aaron Falk returns for the funeral of his childhood friend Luke Hadler, planning to be in and out of the town before he is spotted. Falk has a history with the town, having been driven out of it along with his father twenty years earlier, accused of the death of a teenage girl, Ellie Deacon. But Luke’s parents want answers – they can’t believe their son shot his wife and child (not their baby) and then himself – so Luke’s Father uses what he knows about Ellie’s death to convince Falk to stay and investigate:

“Luke lied. You lied.”

Thus we have two crimes, some 20 years apart. Are the two crimes connected?  Or was Ellie’s death a tragic accident? Falk teams up with Kiewarra’s newly appointed policeman Sergeant Raco to undertake an unofficial investigation. Sergeant Raco has his own concerns about the murder-suicide as he notes a mismatch between the ammunition used to kill the family and that in Luke Hadler’s own supply.  He also wonders that baby Charlotte was left alive and that Luke’s wife Karen was shot while answering the door – who would knock at their own front door?

As Falk and Raco try to determine what happened to the Hadlers, local hostilities against Falk re-emerge.  Leaflets are circulated accusing him of involvement with Ellie Deacon’s death, shops refuse to serve him and the atmosphere is unpleasant, though not completely. His old schoolfriend Gretchen is pleased to re-acquaint herself with Falk, the local hotelier appreciates Falk’s presence and so too the local School Principal. Like many a small town there are lots of secrets and lots of gossip – some true, some false and some in between.

Besides being a gripping story, The Dry is also composed of beautiful prose, describing the harsh climate of a drought-stricken land and its inhabitants. The story of Falk’s early life growing up in Kiewarra is deftly revealed through flashbacks and seamlessly blends with the current. If there was such a thing as Aussie-noir, than this is it – quintessentially Australian, a great read.