The Dry cover art

The Dry

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Dry

By: Jane Harper
Narrated by: Stephen Shanahan
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.
Cancel

About this listen

I just can't understand how someone like him could do something like that. Amid the worst drought to ravage Australia in a century, it hasn't 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 20 years earlier. Because Falk and Luke Hadler shared a secret, one which Luke's 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 friend's crime.

©2016 Jane Harper (P)2016 Hachette Audio UK Crime Fiction Fiction Suspense Exciting Scary

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Outback cover art

Critic reviews

Harper's debut novel is The Dry, a crime thriller making its way up The Sunday Times Bestsellers charts as steadily as the mercury rises each day in the stricken agricultural town of Kiewarra, in which it is set...It feels like an Ur-Australian novel, a whodunit that evokes the punishing landscape and searing aridity so convincingly, you expect a heat haze to shimmer above the page (Patricia Nichol)

An award-winner in its native Australia, in this first book from journalist Harper a local cop investigates the murder of a family in a small town enduring the worst drought in 100 years. This could be the start of an Antipodean wave that will overtake Scandi noir (Nick Curtis)
Praise for this book has been 'resounding', and rightly so: it's truly 'remarkable'. Exploring the tensions of small-town life and 'the limits of human endurance', The Dry is a 'chilling murder mystery', said The Mail on Sunday
Most relevant  

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Certainly I would recommend it. It has everything, a compelling story and great characters who are entirely believable. Well told too.

What did you like best about this story?

The way past and present came together to give us a great tale, giving us more about the characters and their stories as wellas many hidden secrets. There was at the same time an air of sadness and one of menace.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

No one scene stood out, they were all good.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, absolutely.

Any additional comments?

I will certainly belooking out for more from this author.

A grat compelling story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
We read and gripping from the beginning, there are several twists and turns and just when you think you’ve worked it out you realise you have no idea at all!

A gripping story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Thoroughly enjoyed this book and will definitely be listening to it again, and looking for more titles by this author.

Perhaps it's because I'm from Australia and could relate to so much of this, but it was incredibly atmospheric and I could picture the characters perfectly.

Highly recommended.

Really excellent

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Super characters, plot, pace. Convincing portrayal of how tensions must fray in such difficult conditions and human failing.

Give it a go - I’m looking forward to reading more from Jane Harper.

Takes you in straight from the first few ‘pages’

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story, was hooked from the beginning. it's full of intrigue and mystery and bitter sweet sadness. wonderful

a gripping story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This had me intrigued from the very beginning. All plot lines seem to work until they're disproved!

Gripping with a surprising but believable ending

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Fabulous little book! I really enjoyed this and cannot wait to read more by the author. I'm a terribly slow reader....... this was my 1st snook read on a kindle, love it!i read this in two afternoons in the sun, in the garden...... it is well worth a read!

A Cracking book! Very enjoyable read.......

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Jane Harper- What a story! Absolutely loved listening to The Dry. Earphone on or in the car! And Stephan Shanahan. Little bit in love with your voice.

Couldn’t get out of the Car!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I loved this book from start to finish. I felt the heat and the small town meanness and I thought both policeman were beautifully drawn and believable.
I could have done without quite so much detail for some of the minor characters but it is a tiny quibble in a great read.

Atmospheric and gripping read.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Great story well read being next in series starting it now, look forward to the next one

Great

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews