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Fiction

The Dry by Jane Harper

by •
June–July 2016, no. 382

The Dry by Jane Harper

Pan Macmillan $32.99 pb, 340 pp, 9781743548059

Fiction

The Dry by Jane Harper

by •
June–July 2016, no. 382

There is an odd moment halfway through The Dry when Aaron Falk, the Federal Police officer unofficially investigating the apparent murder–suicide of the Hadler family in the dismal country town where he grew up, is sifting through items left behind by Karen Hadler, one of the dead. Falk comes across a library book, 'a battered paperback crime novel'; he describes it as, '[s]tandard stuff. Not quite to his taste, but he wouldn't be in the job he was in if he didn't enjoy a good mystery.' The point is belaboured. 'It was an obvious storyline, nothing special'; and 'the realisation that this mediocre thriller could have been the last thing she'd read in her life made him feel deeply depressed'.

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Chris Flynn

Chris Flynn is the author of three novels, the most recent of which is Mammoth (2020). His latest book is a collection of short fiction, Here Be Leviathans (2022).

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Comment (1)

  • Loving this book however the rabbit plague described and means of disposal (ie shooting them with rifles at the cost of how much? per bullet) needed more research. Yes rabbit plagues were a huge problem in years gone by (30's, 4o's, 50's - people lived off them in the depression but they were trapped rather than shot, then came myxomatosis which virtually wiped out the rabbit problem and now the colesi virus mops up most stragglers - I felt the author (English) needed to have done a bit more research re rabbit problem in Australia. Much as I am loving the book in general this little faux pas irritated me slightly. I grew up in the Australian bush on a farm
    Posted by Diane Kelly
    09 August 2016

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