The Dry by Jane Harper will feature on the Radio 2 Book Club on Monday 3 April.
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The Dry
I just can’t understand how someone like him could do something like that.
Amid the worst drought to ravage Australia in a century, it hasn’t rained in small country town Kiewarra for two years. Tensions in the community become unbearable when three members of the Hadler family are brutally murdered. Everyone thinks Luke Hadler, who committed suicide after slaughtering his wife and six-year-old son, is guilty.
Policeman Aaron Falk returns to the town of his youth for the funeral of his childhood best friend, and is unwillingly drawn into the investigation. As questions mount and suspicion spreads through the town, Falk is forced to confront the community that rejected him twenty years earlier. Because Falk and Luke Hadler shared a secret, one which Luke’s death threatens to unearth. And as Falk probes deeper into the killings, secrets from his past and why he left home bubble to the surface as he questions the truth of his friend’s crime.
Selection panel review
The book was selected with the help of a panel made up of staff from The Reading Agency and public libraries from across the UK.
Our panel loved The Dry – here are some of their comments:
“This was an immensely enjoyable read which follows two separate mysteries: Did Luke Hadler really murder his family and take his own life? Who killed Ellie Deacon twenty years earlier? A cast of well-drawn secondary characters adds to the interest and is essential to the plot development.”
“A really good crime story with a different setting to many and that setting, a drought ridden Australian bush, was a character in its own right. The atmosphere is a powder keg ready to blow because of the heat and old secrets long buried. I could feel the searing blistering sunshine, see the parched earth and hear the sweat drip. I also couldn’t guess the dénouement.”
About the author
Jane Harper has worked as a print journalist for thirteen years both in Australia and the UK. She lives in Melbourne and currently writes for the Herald Sun. Jane is originally from the UK and moved to Australia in 2008. The Dry is her first novel.
Get involved
Tune in to Simon Mayo’s Drivetime show on Monday 3 April to hear a live interview with Jane.
Discuss your thoughts on the The Dry on Twitter using #TheDry and follow author Jane Harper or connect with TheCrimeVault and LittleBrown.
You can take a look at what other readers thought or leave your own review.
Want to find out more? Take a look at the Radio 2 Book Club Twitter feed or find out more on the Radio 2 Book Club website.