The Dry

Starred review from July 11, 2016
At the start of Australian author Harper’s devastating debut, Melbourne-based federal agent Aaron Falk returns to his drought-stricken hometown, Kiewarra, for three funerals—those of popular school aid Karen Hadler; her six-year-old son, Billy; and her husband, Luke, Aaron’s childhood best friend. Luke apparently murdered Karen and Billy before turning the shotgun on himself. Falk knows better than anyone that his charismatic mate may have had a darker side—two decades earlier as teens they gave each other bogus alibis for the afternoon of high school crush Ellie Deacon’s suspicious death by drowning. When Luke’s brokenhearted parents beg Falk to investigate, he can’t refuse. But as Falk begins digging with the help of recently arrived Sgt. Greg Raco, including looking into a possible connection to the earlier tragedy, he swiftly discovers that a badge may not protect him from a town driven to the brink. From the ominous opening paragraphs, all the more chilling for their matter-of-factness, Harper, a journalist who writes for Melbourne’s Herald Sun, spins a suspenseful tale of sound and fury as riveting as it is horrific. Agent: Daniel Lazar, Writers House.

March 21, 2016
In the tiny town of Kiewarra, a mother and son are found murdered. The likely culprit is the father, also found shot dead in the back of his truck. It is with this grim setting that we are drawn into Jane Harper’s world, which, though thoroughly steeped in the lore of crime fiction, does its best to subvert expectations at every turn. Harper won the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for her unpublished manuscript of The Dry, and it’s not difficult to see why. The first 100 pages in particular are exquisitely written, as Harper instils in readers a sense of horror at this drought-stricken, bloodstained town. Her prose takes a backseat once the police procedural kicks in, but remains satisfyingly taut throughout. There are a few minor first-novel hitches. Harper’s careful drip-feed of information is undermined by her tendency to slip into omniscient, italicised flashbacks that reveal the thought processes of any given character. But it’s a small quibble with such a fine piece of writing, which will almost certainly break through to a commercial audience. Myles McGuire is a Brisbane-based writer and bookseller at Riverbend Books