The Dry by Jane Harper

This debut mystery by Jane Harper introduces a city police officer with a rural past. When the story opens, Aaron Falk is back in his home town of Kiewarra for the funeral of someone who was once a close friend. Yet all he wants is to get away from the people he grew up with, both the nasty bullies and those who were kind. In a few short hours, he hopes to start the drive back to the office in Melbourne.

In many ways, the town is much as he remembers, but with one important difference. The river is dry. The lack of rain has frayed the nerves of the townspeople, who are also now reeling from the shock of having to bury an entire family. As the story unfolds, we intuit the reason for Aaron's sudden departure, and why he's never been back. We also meet a local woman he knew as a teen, now a single mother, and learn of a teenage friend who drowned.

This novel dramatizes the power of weather. Drought puts psychological as well as financial pressure on those whose livelihoods it threatens. The story also portrays the damage caused by fear and lies, suspicion and distrust, when compounded by small-town pressures to conform.

The book is available locally, but I bought my copy on a recent trip to Australia. Until I witnessed it with my own eyes, I was unfamiliar with the concept of rivers empty of water. After crossing many bridges over dry riverbeds, I gained some sense of Australian weather and seasons. The Dry can hit around the country, when the rivers are not overflowing their banks. In the Northern Territory, the Build-up is the name of the humid and uncomfortable season of waiting for the Wet.

Jane Harper's memorable federal policeman Aaron Kirk returns in future novels, and The Dry has been made into a film, starring Eric Bana as Kirk. Filmed in several Australian locations, the movie is still in the editing process.