The Dry
Federal agent Aaron Falk returns to the drought-cracked farming town of Kiewarra in the Australian outback for the funeral of his childhood best friend, Luke, who seems to have shot his wife, his young son, and then himself on the failing family property. Almost everyone in town believes the case is closed; the drought has been grinding the community down for months, and Luke would not be the first farmer to crack. Luke's parents, however, cannot accept it, and they press Aaron, who once fled Kiewarra under a different cloud of suspicion, to look again. As Aaron digs in with the local sergeant, the present-day investigation keeps dragging up a twenty-year-old question about another young death by a dried-up river. Jane Harper's debut is a taut, atmospheric procedural and the first in the Aaron Falk series.
Themes & atmosphere
What you might want to know about The Dry
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
First in the Aaron Falk series. Federal Police investigator Aaron Falk returns to the drought-broken Australian town of Kiewarra for the funeral of his childhood best friend, who killed his wife, son, and himself, allegedly.
The Dry was written by Jane Harper and published in 2016. It was Harper's debut novel and the first in her Aaron Falk series, set in rural Australia.
Yes. A 2020 Australian film adaptation starring Eric Bana as Aaron Falk was released. A sequel film, Force of Nature: The Dry 2, followed in 2024.
The Dry is 116 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, The Dry takes most readers 2 to 3 hours to finish.
The Dry is a standalone novel by an unknown author, not part of a series.
The Dry is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.