Jane Harper is consistently excellent, and Exiles is no exception! Gripping and intriguing from start to finish, with exceptional world building, characters and plot. I'll always go for a Jane Harper book!

Jane Harper is absolutely up there with th e likes of Karin Slaughter in her powerfully written compelling thrillers. Such an original exploration of small town mentality where no one is who they appear to be. Hugely recommend

Another excellent mystery from Jane Harper. More character driven than plot driven, and fairly slow moving (which overall is more to my taste) it’s a fairly straightforward storyline. A young mother inexplicably goes missing during a local festival. One year on the family come together to commemorate her disappearance and attend the festival to try and jog people’s memories of that fateful night. They are joined by investigator and family friend Aaron Falk who gradually begins to think not all is as it seems. I found it a gripping read, unpredictable on many levels, and although the ending is neat with all loose ends tied up, it worked well for me and I was suitably taken aback. Perhaps I’m not very good at picking up clues, though. Overall an entertaining and enjoyable read.

Thanks to the publishers and netgalley for supplying this book in exchange for a review.
This was a great addition to the series. Well written and atmospheric.

A good story,part of a series featuring Aaron Falk. Very descriptive,a fast moving story with some twists and turns.

Following the previous two books in the series, this book does not disappoint!
Face paced and gripping though the entire book

Jane Harper is a master of Australian thrillers. I have enjoyed all of her books since I read The Dry. There is so much attention to detail in the plots of her stories, they are vast and descriptive. I would recommend these books to anyone wanting to experience a new author.

I'm very late leaving feedback for this book - apologies - but this was a fantastic read. I was rooting for Aaron all the way through and while I love the ending, I'm also sad that this is the last we'll see of this character.

Jane Harper never fails to impress with her writing. Her stories are well plotted, clues neatly sewn into the narrative, always given just enough to keep you guessing and second guessing yourself. The characters and dialogue feels well rounded and authentic. I will not fail to recommend this book - indeed, the whole trilogy - to any readers of crime/thrillers since they are an absolute delight to read and stay in your mind for a long time afterwards. Long may Jane reign as the antipodean queen of crime!

A year ago, Kim Gillespie disappeared from a busy festival, leaving her baby alone and her friends and family wondering where she went. Visiting the area for his godson’s christening, Aaron Falk begins to look into the disappearance, but he has to tread carefully as the case is very close to people he cares about.

I was very happy to have Falk and Raco back together in this one. I loved their partnership in The Dry, so it was fun to see how their relationship has developed and remained intact over time. I also appreciated the romantic element in this book, so the focus wasn’t fully on Kim’s disappearance but also on Falk’s love life and potential future plans.

The actual mystery was a little bit repetitive after the first two books, but Harpers writing is so good and Falk is such a brilliant character that it really didn’t matter. It was still a fantastic and gripping read.

Jane Harper has become an author I can rely upon for a great story. She captures Australia in a way I've rarely read before, this time bringing to life a small town in wine country, where Aaron Falk visits old friends for an annual festival, and gets involved in an unsolved missing person case. She perfectly captures the beauty of the country, the vineyards and sunshine, and it makes the perfect backdrop for this mystery.

It is a slow burn story, meandering its way through a complex cast of characters, the family and community dramas, to an ultimately satisfying conclusion. It's perhaps not her best, taking a slower pace than some of her previous novels, but this author never disappoints, and this is still a fantastic read.

Missing…

Aaron Falk is on his way to attend the christening of the young son of his friends Greg and Rita Raco. This is the second time the christening has been scheduled - the year before it was cancelled when the day before it was due to be held a local woman, Kim Gillespie, went missing during the Marralee Valley Annual Food and Wine Festival. Exactly a year later everyone is gathering again for the delayed christening, and Kim’s family and friends intend to make an appeal at the festival for anyone who may have been there the year before to come forward with any information. Greg Raco is a police officer, though not in Marralee, and Aaron also works with the police in their financial crimes squad based in Melbourne. So although neither of them is officially involved in the investigation into Kim’s disappearance, they both find themselves looking into it unofficially.

Harper goes from strength to strength since she broke through with a huge success on her debut, The Dry. This is another excellent slow-burn mystery where the setting and characters are carefully developed and are as important as the question of what has happened to Kim. It starts with us getting to meet those closest to Kim – she was the long-term partner of Greg’s brother and their teenage daughter is the driving force behind the festival appeal. It then moves slowly out into the wider community, letting us see how Kim was regarded and how her disappearance has had a ripple effect through the lives of many people. The police think that Kim probably drowned in the reservoir next to the festival site, perhaps deliberately since she was already suffering from depression even before the birth of her new baby to her new husband, Rohan. But those closest to her can’t accept that she would have killed herself, and especially not that she could have left the new baby unattended in her pram in the festival car park while she did so.

Marralee is another great setting – a small town servicing a rural area filled with small-scale agricultural ventures, especially wine-growing. Everyone knows everyone else, and most of the adults around Kim grew up together as a close-knit group. So there are all the secrets and tensions that come with that shared history, but also the loyalty and looking out for each other that lasts when people have been so close for so long. Aaron is the outsider, which allows him to be more objective, although he relies very much on Greg’s inside knowledge of the various relationships in the group. And Aaron finds himself attracted to the slower pace of life and the less impersonal feel of the small town, although he enjoys his stressful and time-consuming job in Melbourne too.

He’s also attracted to Gemma, the festival organiser, whom he met once before in Melbourne, and it seems she might be attracted to him too. The festival started out years before as a small local thing but has gradually grown to be a big tourist attraction playing a vital role in the local economy, and Gemma has had a large part in that success. Harper handles the romantic aspect as skilfully as the mystery – this is no instalove, but two mature people considering whether they can and should find a way to be together, or whether it would be too disruptive to their lives and careers. There’s a secondary mystery around the death of Gemma’s husband a few years earlier – he was killed by a hit-and-run driver who has never been identified. Unusually I found this secondary story just as gripping and involving as the main plot.

I don’t want to risk spoilers by giving away too much about the story, since it’s the slow build towards the solution that makes it work so well. We gradually get to know Kim through the recollections of the people who loved her, and we see possible motives, both for why she may have been murdered or for why she may have chosen suicide. All is made clear at the end, and the underlying story is dark indeed – I found the climax very tense even though it’s clear by then how it will turn out.

Nothing to criticise on this one – how unfair of her! Great setting well portrayed, excellent characterisation of a fairly large group of people – even the two teenagers in the story are convincing, which isn’t always the case in fiction – likeable lead characters and a good, credible plot surrounded by a wider interesting story. If you haven’t already guessed, highly recommended!

A new Jane Harper is always a cause for excitement, but a new Jane Harper book featuring Aaron Falk is the cherry on top! I really loved this book, as usual for Harper, it is brilliantly plotted, has lots of depth and interesting characters and a great mystery at its heart. Falk is one of my favourite characters and I loved meeting him again, and without spoiling anything, I am happy he is happy!

The story takes place a year after Kim Gillespie had disappeared at a busy festival. It is believed she drowned in a reservoir near the festival site either taking her own life because of post natal depression or accidentally falling in.
The body is never found and family members can’t believe she would leave her baby. Aaron Faulks, a federal investigator, who was at the festival the previous year returns to the site and starts to investigate her disappearance. The relationships of close family and friends is carefully examined and the tension gradually builds as the characters are carefully fleshed out.
The Exiles is an excellent character driven novel. A great read.

A bittersweet novel featuring Aaron Falk in his third and final novel. The beauty of Australian wine country, blossoming love and a mystery or two needing solving. What could be better? Exiles isn't full on with action but it delivers a slow burn, thoughtful story unravelling at a gentle pace. That is the beauty of Jane Harper's writing. The reader gets a considered view of the characters, the intriguing plot and a mystery that seems uncrackable. It is this easy-going Australian view of life, people and situations that makes her books sing. I savoured it slowly as I know I will miss Aaron but feel good about the journey we've enjoyed by his side.

Im afraid this just wasn’t a book for me. A baby is found safe in a pram at a town festival in Australia, but, where is her mother? I think I was expecting a fast paced suspenseful read, when I found it more of a crime /family drama / love story / sort of mystery and a very slow one. For me, an OK read.

Aaron Falk is the main character and it’s one of a series, so, perhaps it’s because I hadn’t read the others that I just couldn’t get into the rhythm of the writing. I’m sure I’m in a minority and I wish this popular writer every success.

If you’re looking for a descriptive, slow paced, crime drama, then this may absolutely be the book for you.

Thanks to NetGalley and Pan MacMillan for the opportunity to preview.

I loved this book.
It was such a well written gripping read with well thought out characters that came to life on the page.
You get swept into the events in a small town with people you start to care about. The plot develops throughout the book, beautifully crafted by the author.
A recommended read.

This is book three in this series from Jane Harper and one I really enjoyed. It has a good storyline, centred around the mystery of two unsolved crimes. It is written well and has lots of characters but is easy to follow who is who in the story.

It had me guessing a few times about different theories but I was totally wrong about both crimes!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this ebook in exchange for my honest review.

I love Jane Harper books and think they are always a slow burn of a read. The same goes for this one where Aaron Falk is back. He's staying at his friend's winery and gets sucked into investigating the disappearance of Kim, one of a group of friends in a small outback town. She disappeared from a local festival a year previously and just seemed to disappear into thin air. Her group of friends have known each other since high school and we learn about their pasts and more importantly, their relationships with each other leading up to the present. To say any more would spoil the story. Don't expect wham bam action but a very enjoyable and satisfying read. Thank you Netgalley for a copy of this book to review.

Thank you Pan Macmillan for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Incredible prose. I've been meaning to read this author forever.

An easy to read book featuring police officer Aaron Falk who has appeared in other of Jane Harper’s novels.
I am conflicted by how I feel about this book. More interesting than a couple of the others but is that enough?
We were introduced to many characters who lived nearby but in the end had no relevance to the plot. The solutions to the two mysteries – what happened to a young mother last year and who killed a resident many years before – were meandering towards solution when the narrative switches to that of the victim and her husband and the mystery is suddenly explained in 40ish pages.

I really enjoyed The Dry and The Lost Man. Overall this fails to live up to them.