to visit his friends Greg and Rita Raco in the southern Australian town of Marralee Valley. Aaron will attend the christening of the Racos toddler son Henry, for whom Aaron is godfather. It’s been both fantastic and bittersweet to bring together this final story for him. I’ve loved writing Exiles and I hope readers enjoy it." Early praise for Exiles Aaron Falk is in town to celebrate the christening of his godson, when the subject of Kim’s disappearance comes up. It’s a case that weighs heavily on this tight-knit community and Aaron is asked to investigate the case in an unofficial capacity. I have always enjoyed reading how Aaron solves cases. He is extremely dedicated and has lost many close relationships due to his commitment to his work. In this book, we see Aaron seeking out more personal relationships.

Rohan, Kim's husband, lives in the aftermath. He is a fraction of the man he was a year ago. He must raise little Zoe alone and watch over Kim's teenage daughter, Zara, from a previous relationship. It's Zara who keeps vigil and refuses to stop searching for Kim. This is the last in Falk’s series, and Harper has congregated the old and new characters around him smoothly. They have helped him mellow, loosen up, and live a little. Meanwhile, Zara's uncle Greg Raco, who's a police officer, plans to continue investigating Kim's disappearance.... and he asks Aaron Falk to help. An outstanding novel, a brilliant mystery and a heart-pounding read from the author of The Dry, Force of Nature, The Lost Man and The Survivors. Exiles works on pretty much every level. The the writing is very good and evocative. Ms. Harper is a very talented writer, able to reveal character and advance the story slowly and steadily through subtle moments. The plot is well-crafted, juggling multiple mysteries in the present and the past, dispensing little clues and a fair amount of misdirection. Aaron Falk is a fully realized character (especially after two earlier books), who ends up playing the role of wise, observant outsider. But there are probably ten other significant characters and each of them is also sharply drawn. Most of the story is told from Aaron’s perspective, but there are occasional chapters from another’s perspective, and each of those is a revelatory gut punch.The Dry is her first novel and the first book in the Aaron Falk trilogy. The Dry is followed by Force of Nature and Exiles. In addition, the twist is partially revealed through chapters told from the perspective of Kim and her husband, who was involved in her disappearance, which sheds light on the story but also feels lazy on the author’s part. A mystery novel satisfies readers when the resolution is unexpected but could have been predicted with the clues given. The twist in “Exiles” comes after a string of disconnected and random clues that do not quite make sense once the final reveal is known. 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. The third and final Aaron Falk mystery. Visiting friends in South Australian wine country, Falk finds himself drawn into the investigation of the disappearance of a woman a year ago at the local food and wine festival, and the hit-and-run death of a man a few years before. [13] Awards and recognition [ edit ] Harper's third murder mystery is set in south-west Queensland on a large cattle station. The police find nothing in Cameron Bright's death from dehydration to suggest foul play, and the investigation is carried out informally by the dead man's elder brother Nathan. [11] The Survivors [ edit ]

Aaron Falk è un poliziotto federale che svolge indagini finanziarie e fiscali, ma si trova sempre coinvolto in storie molto locali, lontano da Melbourne dove vive e lavora, storie che nulla hanno a che fare con frodi o delitti di stampo finanziario. Si tratta sempre di situazioni ben più terra terra: in questo caso, una donna scomparsa da un anno, a cui, con lo scorrere delle pagine, si aggiunge un incidente automobilistico avvenuto sei anni prima. I loved the sense of family that surrounds Raco and Rita, whom we first encountered in The Dry. Falk is welcomed, even embraced, in this family and it stirs the feeling that maybe work isn't everything, that maybe there could be more if he would just open himself to the possibility.

While the mystery of Kim’s disappearance might be the narrative hook on which this crime novel hangs, what renders it so engaging is Harper’s keen observation of people and place captured in swift glimpses. Meeting his godson after a year, the toddler fixes Falk with a “glassy accusing gaze”, while his little sister Eva shyly slides a glittery hairclip into Falk’s hand. This is what small children do. Falk is clearly touched by this young family and their kindness as he contemplates an alternative country lifestyle on Charlie’s vineyard miles away from his workaholic existence in Melbourne. Tasked with trying to determine what would make Kim abandon her son, Aaron is also drawn to another woman. Not having enough on his plate, he finds another mystery to solve as well.

When she starts a book, Jane always has a particular end in sight – she’s already planned it all out. So she’s upfront that this one was always going to be Falk’s last hurrah. No following in the footsteps of Ian Rankin or Michael Connelly, who have each written more than 20 books about their respective cops, John Rebus and Harry Bosch. Overall, while I did like Jane Harper’s Exiles, I wasn’t completely bowled over by it as other readers have been. Ultimately, all the plot threads converge and details get spelled out and characters’ motivations get explained, though Harper sustains the overall air of mystery and a satisfying level of suspense until the end. I’m not a reader of the romance genre, but felt the generous helping of a timeless romance that develops between Aaron and Gemma was far and away one of the strongest parts of the story. Especially since their happy relationship stands in such sharp relief to the darker relationship between two other major characters. During last year's Food and Wine Festival, a woman named Kim Gillespie disappeared, leaving her baby daughter Zoe alone in her stroller.One of the things I look forward to with a Jane Harper novel is wondering where in Australia she will place her characters!! It was a spring night and the South Australian sky was clear and starry with no rain forecast, but the weatherproof hood had been pulled over to full stretch. A linen square normally used as a sunshield was draped over the opening between the hood and the pram. A casual glance would not now see the sleeping girl at all. The mysteries are engaging and compelling. My suspicions were all over the place. The clues were there, but caught up in the atmosphere of Harper's writing and seeing the situation from the perspective of her friends, I missed them. Well, not exactly missed them, but didn't attach to them the importance they deserved. The answer to Kim's disappearance is chilling; to who caused the death of Dean Tozer, sad. Why would Kim, a devoted mother and wife, leave her 6-week-old baby in a pram at a crowded festival and disappear without a trace? It’s been a year since her disappearance, and the case remains cold.