The Dry by Jane Harper (A Review by Jennifer Boksman)
5/5 stars
Who really killed the Hadler family?
This is Jane’s first novel, and she grabs your attention right from the first page with her prologue. The opening scene is one of quiet, deadly quiet, nothing to be heard but the pulse of the flies. Three corpses are waiting for someone to discover them. But the quiet is suddenly shattered by the wails of little Charlotte, the sole survivor. From that moment, the story unfolds in a rural community in the outback of Australia, suffering from a drought that has continued for two years, the land and the people in it soon to implode from the excessive heat and dry.
Although it is 2003, you could presume it to be the 1930’s in the middle of the depression with its lack of money and financial woes. The desperation of the townsfolk is discernible. Former, shunned resident, now a police officer, Aaron, returns for what he believes will be a twenty-four-hour visit to bury his friend and family. Not only for a funeral, he returns due to guilt caused by a note sent by the deceased’s father. What unfolds is an unsolved murder from twenty years previous as well as the story of the horrific death of a family. Filled with intrigue, this well-written thriller will keep you guessing until the very end.
“Who really killed the Hadler family?”
Read this terrific thriller and find out.
Review by Jennifer Boksman