The Dry by Jane Harper

This is a fabulous crime mystery; it reminded me of both The Dressmaker and Gone Girl, but a simpler story.

Melbourne based Federal Police investigator Aaron Falk returns to the small outback Australian town of his childhood for the funeral of his farmer friend Luke and Luke's family. It appears that Luke killed his wife and son before turning the gun on himself after struggling financially due to a two year drought. Luke's father is convinced it wasn't suicide and asks Aaron to investigate. Aaron works with a local police officer to uncover what happened.

Aaron has not been back to Kiewarra since he and his father fled town, after his friend Ellie drowned and her father pointed the finger at sixteen year old Aaron. The book slowly reveals not only what happened to Luke and his family but also Ellie. I found the characters interesting and believable; some have lived their lives in Kiewarra while others moved there with misplaced romantic notions of what rural life would be like. Like any good crime novel, information is revealed gradually throughout the book; it doesn't all happen in the last fifty pages. That said, the last fifty pages are riveting.