Review copy was received from NetGalley, Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Exiles by Jane Harper Narrator: Stephen Shanahan
Published by MacMillan Audio on January 30, 2023
Genres: Thriller
Pages: 352
Length: 12 hours, 25 minutes
Format: Audiobook, eARC
Source: NetGalley, Publisher
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At a busy festival site on a warm spring night, a baby lies alone in her pram, her mother vanishing into the crowds.
A year on, Kim Gillespie’s absence casts a long shadow as her friends and loved ones gather deep in the heart of South Australian wine country to welcome a new addition to the family.
Joining the celebrations is federal investigator Aaron Falk. But as he soaks up life in the lush valley, he begins to suspect this tight-knit group may be more fractured than it seems.
Between Falk’s closest friend, a missing mother, and a woman he’s drawn to, dark questions linger as long-ago truths begin to emerge.
I’ve been enjoying the Aaron Falk series with the Australian cultural aspects along with an odd sort of police procedural. Falk is a federal police for financial cases. He works in Melbourne. But all of the cases in the series are when he is out visiting in the region where he grew up. The series has taken place over six years or so. In Dry, he went to his hometown as one of his close friends had died. He worked the case with a new policeman in the town and developed a true friendship which has continued.
In Exiles, Aaron is back to become the godfather of his friend’s child. The christening was supposed to take place a year ago, but the day before Kim, the ex-wife of his friend’s brother had disappeared. It’s the start of the festival, as it was last year, and Kim’s daughter, Zara, is appealing to everyone for any information of when they saw Kim.
Aaron is also considering a relationship with a local woman, Gemma who runs the festival. Her husband, Dean, was killed in a hit and run about 5 years ago, and it hasn’t been solved. Her stepson, Joel lives with her, and along with Zara, the teenagers look for answers to the loss of their parents.
I enjoyed the mix of two mysteries that Aaron pondered and gathered evidence, although he is not law enforcement here. These aren’t even his work’s type of crime. There is also the true friendship he has formed with this circle of people and the building relationship with Gemma. He has had a lot of personal growth over the books, dealing with the murder of a friend when he was a teen, which lead to leaving the small town and moving to Melbourne. This strained his relationship with his father, who later died of cancer.
For readers, there are flashbacks to Kim and her thoughts sporadically, but Aaron doesn’t have that information. He didn’t really know her at all. Kim had remarried and was out of touch with this long-standing group of friends. Somehow Aaron looks at all the pieces in Kim’s disappearance and with Dean, and gradually puts things together. I had other ideas but eventually Aaron narrowed in to the suspects.
I love seeing another culture, the close friends and family group, and Aaron’s personal development. I hope there will be more.
Narration:
This narrator seems to narrate all the books by Jane Harper. I had listened to the first two books from the library, as well as The Survivors last year so I was familiar with his voice. The voices sounded well for the region, both male and female voices were comfortable. The first time I listened to this narrator I listened more slowly but now I listened at my usual 1.5x speed.
Listen to a clip: HERE
About Jane Harper
Jane is a New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller, and has won numerous top awards including the Australian Book Industry Awards Book of the Year, the Australian Indie Awards Book of the Year, the CWA Gold Dagger Award for Best Crime Novel, and the British Book Awards Crime and Thriller Book of the Year.
Her books are published in more than 36 territories worldwide, with The Dry in production as a major motion picture starring Eric Bana.
Jane was born in Manchester in the UK, and moved to Australia with her family at age eight. She spent six years in Boronia, Victoria, and during that time gained Australian citizenship. Returning to the UK with her family as a teenager, she lived in Hampshire before studying English and History at the University of Kent in Canterbury.
On graduating, she completed a journalism entry qualification and got her first reporting job as a trainee on the Darlington & Stockton Times in County Durham. Jane worked for several years as a senior news journalist for the Hull Daily Mail, before moving back to Australia in 2008. She worked first on the Geelong Advertiser, and in 2011 took up a business reporting role in Melbourne.
In 2014, Jane submitted a short story which was one of 12 chosen for the Big Issue’s annual Fiction Edition. That inspired her to pursue creative writing more seriously, breaking through with The Dry at the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards in 2015.
Jane lives in bayside Melbourne with her husband and their two children.
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I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
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I’ve always wanted to try this author. I love the mix of mystery and family drama, one of my favorites😁
I also really enjoy the Australian setting and the culture.
Interesting! What a nice mix!
Thank you. It’s a great setting too.
I enjoy mysteries set in other countries so I can see how they work crimes and also learn about the culture. I’ll have to look these up.
I’ve really been enjoying this author; this series and some other books of hers.
This sounds good Anne, I don’t know if I’ve ever read/listened to her before but your review has me wanting to try. 🙂
Thanks
Thank you Debbie. These are mysteries with some gritty bits. She has some stand alones, and this series.
I need to read this author’s work. This sounds so good.
I like different and this has a different setting and cultural aspects. The rules of police vary in different countries too.
The first sentence of the blurb caught my attention. I love police procedurals and two mysteries in one is always a good thing. 🙂
Thanks Sherry. Police procedurals are a go to for me because there is usually a solution, an answer in these times when not everything is certain.
I’ve heard good things about this author and book. Wonderful review, Anne!
Thank you Wendy. I enjoyed the cultural differences and small things I can pick up about the country.
I have had this author on my tbr for a long time but haven’t found the time to read her books just yet. I am sure that I would enjoy this one.
You could start with a standalone like Dry. This is a series and I’m enjoying it.
I really like her books. I wanted to request this one, but forgot. Maybe it’s still up on NG. If not I’ll request at my library. Didn’t know the books spanned over 6 years. Wonderful review, Anne!
Thank you Rachel! This one is the third in the series.
I really need to read more of her books. I read one and enjoyed it but still have The Dry and at least one other sitting on my shelf.
I’ve loved all the ones I’ve read which is this series of 3 and Dry. I really like the setting and the culture. It’s just another difference and I like that.