I’ve read a few now and it’s become a bit of a problem with me. The same thing happens. Then the last one hundred pages it comes alive.

3.5⭐️ #3 Aaron Falk I have loved the other books in this series, so I had high expectations for this one. This time we are in South Australian wine country for this mystery. I love hearing about the different areas of Australia through the authors books. The locations are so well described and atmospheric they become an important aspect of the book. A wine and food festival finds baby Zoe left in a stroller with no sign of her mother Kim Gillespie, with her car still on the car park. A year on Aaron is visiting for his friend’s Greg Raco son’s Christening. While Aaron is visiting there’s a missing person appeal at the wine and food festival. Greg’s family knows Kim well and asks Aaron to investigate the cold case. There’s a 2nd thread with what looks like a drunk driver hit and run fatality 6 years earlier. There’s also a romantic element in this book, which was my favourite part. You have to concentrate as Aaron flits between now and the same time last year with the same people. It looks like there’s a lot going on, but the pace is very slow, even with a narrator who I enjoy listening to. The first festival scene is looked at from various perspectives as Falk questions people it feels like there’s a fair bit of repetition, and very little actually happening until the final reveal. I’m very torn with my rating for this one, I absolutely loved the ending. But felt it was too drawn out, too much repetition and not enough happening until the very end. If you are a Jane Harper fan I’m sure you’ll still love this one. If you’re not, I wouldn’t make this one your first read.

This was my third Jane Harper and I have to say it wasn't my favourite. The book is well written, atmospheric and is a real slow burn in true Jane Harper style, yet I felt slightly disappointed. We follow Aaron Falk in his third appearance, this time in South Australian wine country, where he is attending the christening of his friend's son. Whilst he is there, a young mother goes missing leaving her weeks-old daughter alone in a car park without a trace. The mystery continues one year after the disappearance as truths come to light within Kim's friend group. Alongside this, we are following another suspicious incident involving a hit-and-run that occurred 6 years ago. Jane Harper is an excellent writer. She creates such an atmosphere that makes you feel like you are there with the characters. Her writing is accessible and extremely readable; there wasn't a point when I felt like I wanted to put the book down and not finish it. However, the main issue I had was there were too many characters to keep track of. The novel is told in the third person with no individual character perspectives, which I felt it could have benefited from. There were moments when I had to stop and think about who was who, how they were related, who they were connected to etc. But I did enjoy following Aaron Falk again and I am sad that this is possibly the last book to feature him judging by how the story concludes. Another issue I had was I didn't feel as though I was reading a mystery/thriller. It felt more like a family drama with romantic elements. I would have preferred there to be more intrigue and more reveals surrounding the mystery to build up to the grand reveal of what happened. The reveal felt very abrupt and the story moved on very quickly after we discovered what had happened to Kim. The other side plot of the hit and run had a more shocking twist and it's not even mentioned in the description of the book. Overall, this isn't a bad book and far from the worst thing I've ever read. It was entertaining enough to keep me reading and guessing so I do recommend picking this up if you are a Jane Harper fan or like a slow-burn mystery. However, if you haven't read anything from this author before, then I suggest starting with The Dry. Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy of the book in exchange for a review!

I’ve been a big Jane Harper fan up to now but found Exiles quite hard work. The first two thirds of the book is about setting the scene and providing some background to the characters. Unfortunately neither the situation, place or characters are very interesting or engaging, and not much happens apart from people walking or driving about and talking about themselves so it’s hard to pay attention. The resolution to the story is pretty predictable and the ‘love’ element lacks any depth, complexity or interest. A real shame that all the atmosphere and tension I’d come to expect from Jane Harper are missing this time.