Exiles by Jane Harper

 

If Exiles is indeed the last Aaron Falk book from Jane Harper, then she's thrown him a hell of a going away party. 

Falk returns to Marralee at the invitation of Greg Raco, a close friend of his. Maralee is the site of a popular food and wine festival. Falk is to be the godfather to Raco's child. Falk had been there a year earlier when 39-year-old Kim Gillespie disappeared, leaving behind her infant daughter in a stroller. No trace of Kim was ever found except for her shoe which was discovered in a nearby reservoir, leading some to believe she killed herself. 

Falk agrees to look into Kim's case at the urging of her teenage daughter, Zara, who hopes to use the festival to turn up new clues to her mother's disappearance. Falk learns that the festival and reservoir site is also the location of an unsolved hit-and-run six years earlier that resulted in the death of Dean Tozer.

Falk's investigation reveals the relationships between Kim and her friends who grew up in Maralee, as well as some things that have bubbled beneath the surface for a long time. Falk also reconnects with a woman from Maralee whom he met and shared a strong attraction with when she visited Melbourne. Falk's methodical examination takes him deeper into these people's lives. His investigation will open old wounds as well as create new ones if the truth about what happened to Kim is to be discovered.

Harper excels at evoking a strong sense of place that makes you feel not only that you've seen this part of Australia, but that you know it. She creates a sense of foreboding as characters you grow to like are living with grief and guilt. As the truth is slowly uncovered you experience the tragedy and its inevitability. Nobody evokes pathos better than her. 

Jane Harper is Australia's version of Cormac McCarthy. Her novels greatly evoke time and place and her characters are so real that you ache with them. If this is truly where we leave Aaron Falk, then I am filled with both melancholy and happiness for him. Exiles is one of the best books of the year and another in a string of great books from Harper.

I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher.