Exiles by Jane Harper

 

First Lines: Think back. The signs were there. What were they?

 

When federal investigator Aaron Falk arrives in a small town deep in the southern Australian wine country, he's all set to assume godparent duties for his friend's baby. It doesn't take him long to understand that he's needed for more than that.

 

This marks the one-year anniversary of Kim Gillespie's disappearance. One year ago in the midst of the teeming crowds of a popular annual festival, Kim tucked her baby safely into her stroller, then left it behind-- disappearing into the crowd to never be seen again.

 

Kim's teenage daughter Zara is convinced that someone knows something about her mother's disappearance and puts out a call for information during this year's festival. Aaron and his old buddy Raco find that they can't leave the case alone.

 

Falk is welcomed into the close-knit circle of Kim's family and friends, and questions begin to arise as hidden truths begin to emerge. This vacationing police officer is determined to find out what made a devoted mother abandon her baby. What really happened to Kim Gillespie?

~

 

Although Exiles unfolds very slowly, I was completely drawn in by the story. However, that's no real surprise because Jane Harper has a tendency to do that to me. It takes time for Aaron Falk to become enmeshed in the close-knit circle of missing woman Kim Gillespie's family and friends. And they're a very welcoming bunch-- especially since Falk is to be the godfather of the newest little addition to the group.

Everyone has a story. Everyone has an opinion of both Kim herself and what would make her simply disappear into thin air. Kim's teenage daughter Zara's battle to learn what happened to her mother is poignant, laced as it is with both a child's heartbreak and teenage obstinate prickliness. Moreover, Falk learns that Zara's friend Joel has also lost a parent under rather mysterious circumstances. And while Falk searches for answers, he's also finding good reason to re-evaluate his own life, both personally and professionally.  

 

Exiles is just the sort of mystery character-driven readers are going to love. Personal histories. Emotions. Motivations. Evasions. Harper's red herrings are superb. Not only was I led down the wrong garden path, but I also discovered that I wasn't even in the right garden. 

For those of you who haven't read one of Jane Harper's books, I urge you to rectify your oversight. Exiles may be the third book featuring Aaron Falk, but it does well as a standalone. Get yourself a copy and dive right into a marvelous tale.

Exiles by Jane Harper

eISBN: 9781250874863

Flatiron Books © 2023

eBook, 320 pages

 

Police Procedural, #3 Aaron Falk

Rating: A

Source: Net Galley

Force of Nature by Jane Harper

First Line: Later, the four remaining women could fully agree on only two things.

The corporate employees split into two groups for their retreat in the wilderness. The men return on time, but when the women straggle into view late and bedraggled, one of them is missing.

Federal Police Agent Aaron Falk and his partner Carmen Cooper are sent to find the missing woman because she ties in with one of their investigations. When the two police officers begin questioning the four women about what happened, each of them tells a slightly different story. Falk and Cooper find themselves hiking deep into the isolated forest, hoping that they will find Alice Russell alive.

The only incentive any of the participants have in this retreat is their fear that-- if they don't toe the line-- they'll lose their jobs. None of them have either the desire or the aptitude for hiking and camping in bad weather and treacherous terrain, and I enjoyed watching them go into withdrawal when they discovered that this remote area had no cell phone reception. 

Falk and Cooper make a good team, and I hope I see them together in another book. Falk is enjoying his move to white collar crime because he never forgets the people that are devastated by what the criminals think of as insignificant crime that doesn't hurt anyone.

The premise of Force of Nature isn't anything shiny and new, but I certainly enjoyed how Jane Harper put it all together. The missing woman is disliked by everyone, everyone has something to hide, and even two teenage daughters figure into the plot in interesting ways. While not quite as intense as her first book, The Dry, this second book featuring Aaron Falk kept my attention from first page to last, and I'm looking forward to book number three.

Force of Nature by Jane Harper

ISBN: 9781250190109

Flatiron Books © 2018

Hardcover, 336 pages

Police Procedural, #2 Aaron Falk mystery

Rating: A

Source: Purchased at The Poisoned Pen.

The Dry by Jane Harper

First Line: It wasn't as though the farm hadn't seen death before, and the blowflies didn't discriminate.

Federal Agent Aaron Falk left his hometown of Kiewarra twenty years ago, and if he had his way, he'd never go back. But the receipt of a note demanding his presence and the knowledge that his childhood friend Luke and Luke's entire family have been slaughtered has him returning to a place where once Falk and his father were accused of murder.

When another childhood friend, Ellie, was found dead twenty years ago, the only thing that saved Falk and his father from prosecution was Luke's claim that the two boys had been together at the time of the crime. Now more than one person knows they didn't tell the truth back then, and Luke is dead. The small Australian town is enduring the worst drought for a century, but it's time for Falk and a local detective to uncover the truth about what happened to Luke and his family--- and what really happened to Ellie all those years ago--- whether the town wants them to or not. 

In Jane Harper's The Dry, readers are given two mysteries to solve: who killed Aaron's friend Ellie twenty years ago, and who killed Luke and his family now. In this debut that certainly doesn't read like a first book, both mysteries held my interest throughout. On multiple occasions I thought I knew what the solutions were going to be, but I was always wrong. Harper doesn't take the obvious way out when it comes to solving crime.

The setting was claustrophobic: a small town filled with people who take everything at face value and never look for a deeper meaning (let alone the truth). A town that just might be a little crazed from the never-ending drought, dust, and heat. With this backdrop, Aaron Falk shows himself to be an extremely stubborn man who sticks to his investigation even when the townspeople show him repeatedly that he's not wanted. The local detective, Sergeant Raco, is new to the area, so he hasn't formed any strong attachments yet to Kiewarra or the people living there, but he does have a strong attachment to the truth, and this makes him an excellent partner for Falk.

Jane Harper combines strong characterizations, a vivid setting, and a compelling mystery with a fast-moving pace that relentlessly uncovers many of Kiewarra's nasty little secrets. I hear that Aaron Falk will be making another appearance, and that's just the type of news I like.
 

The Dry by Jane Harper

ISBN: 9781250105608

Flatiron Books © 2017

Hardcover, 336 pages

Police Procedural, #1 Aaron Falk mystery

Rating: A

Source: Purchased at The Poisoned Pen.