The Dry (original 2016; edition 2017)

by Jane Harper (Author)

Series: Aaron Falk (1)

Members	Reviews	Popularity	Average rating	Mentions
3,765	265	3,308	(3.98)	385
After getting a note demanding his presence, Federal Agent Aaron Falk arrives in his hometown for the first time in decades to attend the funeral of his best friend, Luke. Twenty years ago when Falk was accused of murder, Luke was his alibi. Falk and his father fled under a cloud of suspicion, saved from prosecution only because of Luke's steadfast claim that the boys had been together at the time of the crime. But now more than one person knows they didn't tell the truth back then, and Luke is dead.Amid the worst drought in a century, Falk and the local detective question what really happened to Luke. As Falk reluctantly investigates to see if there's more to Luke's death than there seems to be, long-buried mysteries resurface, as do the lies that have haunted them. And Falk will find that small towns have always hidden big secrets.… (more)

▾Book information

Member:	bookworm12
Title:	The Dry
Authors:	Jane Harper (Author)
Info:	Flatiron Books (2017), 336 pages
Collections:	Your library
Rating:
Tags:	own, read, 2017, 2023, April

Work Information

The Dry by Jane Harper (2016)

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English (253) French (2) Swedish (2) German (2) Catalan (1) Italian (1) Dutch (1) All languages (262)

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Showing 1-5 of 253 (next | show all)

4.25/5 After being driven away from Kiewerra, Australia 20 years earlier under suspicious circumstances, Det. Aaron Falk arrives back in his hometown during the worst drought in the century to attend the funeral of his boyhood friend Luke, his wife, and his son. Many in this scorching town believe Luke murdered his wife and son and then himself; it's up to Falk and local Sgt. Raco to find out what truly happened while Falk faces his past. (

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crabbyabbe | Mar 13, 2024 |

Aaron Falk’s childhood best friend Luke apparently killed his family and himself. Falk, the smalltown outcast for years, is now a Melbourne white collar crime investigator and wrangled into helping the town cop to investigate whether Luke really was the culprit. The ending isn’t at all what you’d expect—but entirely logical once you know everyone in town a bit better. This one was hard to put down. (

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KarenMonsen | Mar 13, 2024 |

Solid 3 for "I liked it" - maybe even 3.5 because I'd happily read the next in the series even if I won't be tapping my toe until it hits the shelves.

This story involves "murders" (or are they) in a small Australian town. I enjoyed the somewhat unusual format where the reader was able to enjoy flashbacks from the POV of the dead Characters so we really knew exactly what happened. (

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hmonkeyreads | Jan 25, 2024 |

This book completely lived up to its hype. It was fantastic. You are sucked into it form page one and it never really lets you go. (

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cdaley | Nov 2, 2023 |

Late to the party on this book but I was not disappointed. Parts of this book reminded me of times from my childhood in a country town. Wasn't sure whodunnits til the reveal. A great Aussie story! (

)

secondhandrose | Oct 31, 2023 |

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▾Published reviews

4 reviews

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Aaron Falk gaat terug naar zijn geboortedorp Kiewarra in Australië voor de begrafenis van zijn vroegere vriend Luke. Bij Luke heeft zich een familiedrama afgespeeld. Falk is niet erg welkom in het stadje. Jaren geleden is hij samen met zijn vader het stadje ontvlucht omdat Falk in verband werd gebracht met de dood van zijn toenmalige vriendin Ellie Deacon. Falk is van plan om na de begrafenis direct weer te vertrekken. De ouders van Luke vragen hem echter om even te blijven en wat onderzoek te doen naar de dood van hun zoon…lees verder >

added by Jordaan | editAllesoverboekenenschrijvers.nl, Danielle van der Hoeven (Apr 20, 2017)

Jane Harper creates an atmosphere of simmering tension right from the off. Her version of High Noon in the Outback flickers between past and present to slowly reveal what actually happened between characters who are far more engaging than the cogs usually found in clockwork thrillers.
She observes all the conventions — the local loudmouth causing trouble, an old flame awakening lust, patchy mobile phone reception, a double-whammy denouement — while producing something fresh.

added by steevohenderson | editEvening Standard, Mark Sanderson (Jan 12, 2017)

Ms. Harper throws out so many teasing possibilities that it’s hard to believe this is her first novel. And even harder to believe that she learned to write fiction via a literary agency’s online writing course. (She had already been a print journalist for more than a decade.) One trick the course clearly taught her was a basic of the crime genre: Make sure that nothing is what it looks like at first sight. People trying to solve the Hadler murder case — and to deal with many other troubles that erupt in Kiewarra during Falk’s stay — are reliably quick to jump to the wrong conclusions.

added by steevohenderson | editNew York Times, Janet Maslin (pay site) (Jan 9, 2017)

Solid storytelling that, despite a plethora of flashbacks, never loses momentum, strong characterisation and a sense of place so vivid that you can almost feel the blistering heat add up to a remarkably assured debut.

added by steevohenderson | editThe Guardian, Laura Wilson (Dec 8, 2016)

▾Other authors

» Add other authors (15 possible)

Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Jane Harper	—	primary author	all editions	calculated
Hallén, Jessica	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Shanahan, Steve	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

▾Series and work relationships

Belongs to Series

Aaron Falk (1)

Is contained in

Jane Harper 3 Book Collection by Jane Harper

▾Awards and Honors

Awards

Anthony Award (Nominee – First Novel – 2018)

Australian Book Industry Awards (Winner – Book of the Year – 2017)

Australian Book Industry Awards (Shortlist – New Writer – 2017)

Barry Award (Winner – First Novel – 2018)

Barry Award (Nominee – Novel of the Decade – 2020)

BookPeople Booksellers' Choice Award (Shortlist – 2017)

Books Are My Bag Readers Award (Shortlist – Popular Ficton – 2017)

The British Book Industry Awards (Fiction: Crime & Thriller – 2018)

Crime Writers' Association Awards (Winner – Gold Dagger – 2017)

Davitt Award (Winner – Adult Novel – 2017)

Davitt Award (Longlist – Debut Novel – 2017)

Dublin Literary Award (Longlist – 2018)

The Indie Book Award (Winner – Debut fiction – 2017)

Macavity Award (Nominee – First Novel – 2018)

RUSA CODES Reading List (Shortlist – Mystery – 2018)

Theakstons Old Peculier Prize (Longlist – 2018)

Victorian Premier's Literary Award (Winner – Unpublished Manuscript – 2016)

Distinctions

Amazon's Best Books of the Month (January – 2017)

Amazon.com Best Books (2017)

NPR: Books We Love (2017)

This Mystery is Amazing! (Foreign – 2018)

Notable Lists

50 Best Suspense Books of All Time

Chicago Public Library Best of the Best: Adults (Selection – 2017)

King County Library System Best Books (Fiction Books – 2017)

Lariat Adult Fiction Reading List (Selection – 2018)

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▾Common Knowledge

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Canonical title

The Dry

Original title

The Dry

Alternative titles

Original publication date

People/Characters

Important places

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Australia

Important events

Information from the German Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to your language.

Dürre, Wassermangel

Related movies

The Dry (2020 | IMDb)

Epigraph

Dedication

To my parents, Mike and Helen, who always read to me.

First words

It wasn’t as though the farm hadn’t seen death before, and the blowflies didn’t discriminate.

Quotations

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

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Original language

Canonical DDC/MDS

Canonical LCC

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English

None

▾Book descriptions

After getting a note demanding his presence, Federal Agent Aaron Falk arrives in his hometown for the first time in decades to attend the funeral of his best friend, Luke. Twenty years ago when Falk was accused of murder, Luke was his alibi. Falk and his father fled under a cloud of suspicion, saved from prosecution only because of Luke's steadfast claim that the boys had been together at the time of the crime. But now more than one person knows they didn't tell the truth back then, and Luke is dead.Amid the worst drought in a century, Falk and the local detective question what really happened to Luke. As Falk reluctantly investigates to see if there's more to Luke's death than there seems to be, long-buried mysteries resurface, as do the lies that have haunted them. And Falk will find that small towns have always hidden big secrets.

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