Exiles: The heart-pounding Aaron Falk thriller from the No. 1 bestselling author of The Dry and Force of Nature (Aaron Falk, 3)

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A year later, Kim Gillespie’s absence still casts a long shadow as her friends and loved ones gather to welcome a new addition to the family. But late at night, as the festival was closing, a worker found a lone pram with baby Zoe in it. Kim Gillespie’s baby. Henry’s christening was postponed, and the search was on. The shoe was found. Given that each mystery in the Aaron Falk series is different (as is the setting) you could dive into this one without having read the others, and be able to follow it no problem. However, there is an incident that occurred in The Dry that is referred to in this one that I consider a spoiler. Also, because it’s the final book in the trilogy, and as I’ve mentioned above, it does deal with a lot of Aaron’s internal and external struggles in relation to thoughts, feelings, and past and present experiences that were raised in the first two, particularly The Dry. No mystery spoilers for Force of Nature, but FYI it is the only book of Jane Harper’s I rated less than 5 stars – I gave it four. Definitely still worth reading though, and I’m very excited for the movie of it that is currently being filmed and even more excited for Exiles (which hasn’t been confirmed yet, but I’m sure they’ll commit to turning all three into movies).

They had still been a good thirty minutes out of town and Falk could see nothing. The stretch of bushland had looked identical to the rest lining the route. “Where?” Exiles is an excellent addition to the procedural series, following The Dry and Force of Nature. Although you can read them as stand-alone novels, they are better read as part of the series. The novel sets an atmospheric, thoughtful, deliberate pace as both the setting and the investigation are carefully explored. There are plenty of suspects and motives within the narrative as the secrets and evidence is disclosed. The narrative unfolds in three timelines: a year previously, a week in the present, and three years in the future. As ever, Falk is introspective. With the dynamics of the cases and his romantic life combined with the constant push and pull of memories, including those of his relationship with his father, Harper highlights Falk's vulnerable side.This novel is intricately plotted, multi-layered and well written. The descriptions of the vineyards and the sunrises and sunsets are vividly described and easy to imagine! What a beautiful area this must be! Exiles is a quiet mystery that centers on two unsolved crimes in a small town in Southern Australia.

Exiles” takes time to lay out its large cast of characters, notable among them the protagonist Falk, a shrewd and reserved policeman and an outsider welcomed into their close-knit community; Kim Gillespie, the missing woman who was once an entrenched member in the Maralee community but had since grown distant; and Gemma Tozer, festival organizer and Falk’s love interest. Stellar…Writing at the top of her game, Harper effectively uses whodunit tropes to explore her characters’ hidden lives. Readers interested in literate and nuanced mysteries will be eager to see more of Falk.” The recognition came to Falk all at once, followed by a jolt as he realized the little girl now smashing a fistful of dried fruit toward her mouth must be Zoe Gillespie, who up until this moment had remained frozen in his mind at six weeks old. Falk was surprised the man remembered him after a year, but only a little. Falk had been a visitor in town, one of hundreds, but still worth following up. Rohan had probably flagged Falk’s presence to officers himself— There was another bloke there, tall, fortysomething, short hair, gray-blond maybe. Friend of the Racos but on his own, kind of hanging around—dredging up whatever information he could hours after the fact. With this book, Harper may well have given her legions of readers exactly what they have been waiting for: a beautifully observed crime novel about regional life featuring the reticent and endearing federal policeman, Aaron Falk...Quietly and inevitably, the secrets and deceptions are unraveled as Falk finds himself deftly woven into the weft of this small community. In Exiles, Falk may at last have come home.”L’indagine – e quindi la risoluzione del caso - avanza con lentezza – nonostante le sue storie si svolgano in archi temporali stretti, di solito pochi giorni, qualche settimana – e avanza attenta a dettagli e particolari. Harper ama entrare nell’animo dei suoi personaggi, raccontarne pensieri emozioni e reazioni, oltre che le parole pronunciate e i gesti. Scandagliare comportamenti caratteri psicologie. Now, a year later, Kim's older teenage daughter, Zara, and Falk's friend Greg Raco have asked him to look into the case as they ask anyone at this year's festival with more information to come forward. As he looks into the case, questions begin to emerge. What happened to Kim Gilles? What would make a mother abandon her child? Harper’s writing is very descriptive and she does make it easy to envision each scene. She also does a good job of mixing the personal life of the MC with the mystery. Two days later, they found a shoe. Kim Gillespie’s white trainer, waterlogged and streaked with sediment, was recovered more than a kilometre to the east, jammed in the dam’s filters.”

As it happens, Kim's vanishing isn't the only mystery in Marralee Valley. Six years ago a man called Dean Tozer was killed in a hit-and-run incident, but the perpetrator cleaned up the scene and was never identified. It's been a year already since the disappearance of Kim Gillespie. She and her family were attending a festival in South Australia. Nothing added up from there on. Kim was last seen pushing her baby's pram to a corner of the activities.....and then walking away. Someone found the baby unattended as evening set in. No Kim then. No Kim now. No clues then. No clues now. Dean's wife Gemma and his son Joel still hope the driver will be found, but this seems less and less likely as time passes.Exiles is a slow burn and this did not feel like a thriller. The book is more of a mystery with atmospheric writing woven in about the countryside, family, and overall culture of the Australian way of life.