The Dry

Spellbinding Ian Rankin

A riveting murder mystery and a beautifully wrought picture of a rural community under extreme pressureMail on Sunday Thriller of the Week

Packed with sneaky moves and teasing possibilitiesthat keep the reader guessing...The Dry is a breathless page-turner Janet Maslin, New York Times

WHO REALLY KILLED THE HADLER FAMILY?

I just cant understand how someone like him could do something like that.

Amid the worst drought to ravage Australia in a century, it hasnt rained in small country town Kiewarra for two years. Tensions in the community become unbearable when three members of the Hadler family are brutally murdered. Everyone thinks Luke Hadler, who committed suicide after slaughtering his wife and six-year-old son, is guilty.

Policeman Aaron Falk returns to the town of his youth for the funeral of his childhood best friend, and is unwillingly drawn into the investigation. As questions mount and suspicion spreads through the town, Falk is forced to confront the community that rejected him twenty years earlier. Because Falk and Luke Hadler shared a secret, one which Lukes death threatens to unearth. And as Falk probes deeper into the killings, secrets from his past and why he left home bubble to the surface as he questions the truth of his friends crime.

Praise forThe Dry

RivetingMail on Sunday

Stunningly atmospheric Val McDermid

A WINNER OF THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS CRIME THRILLER BOOK OF THE YEAR
A CWA GOLD DAGGER AWARD WINNER
An Amazon.com #1 Pick for Best Mystery & Thriller