From the Bookshelf of Tyler Public Library…

[close] It’s hot and it’s dry. The severe drought has frayed the nerves of the small, rural Kiewarra, Australia community, where the fire alert warnings have been posted at “severe” for over two years. Melbourne-based Federal Agent, Aaron Falk has been called back to Kiewarra for the funeral of his best childhood mate, Luke Hadler, dead from an apparent self-inflicted gun-shot following the murder of his wife Karen, and seven year old son, Billy. “Luke lied. You lied. Be at the funeral”, read the missive to Aaron from Luke’s father.

Harper’s sense of place and her description of Kiewarra are mesmerizing. It’s difficult to believe this is a debut novel. Harper never drops the thread of the two tragic events (the current murder – suicide and the earlier tragic death of young Ellie Deacon) that inform this tightly written novel. Falk and his father left Kiewarra twenty years prior, following the suspicious death of a young neighbor girl. Memories are long in Kiewarra and Falk is not welcomed back by many of the residents who suspect that Falk or his father had something to do with Ellie’s drowning. Luke’s parents are not convinced that their son could commit the heinous act and beg Aaron to investigate. He reluctantly agrees and quickly learns that things are not at all as they seem.

The reader feels the heat, the dust, the flies, and the dispirited, dwindling hope of the community. I loved the fabulous story-telling and could literally not put this down. Highly recommended for mystery and crime aficionados and fingers crossed that Harper will follow with a crime series featuring Aaron Falk.