Author: Jane Harper
Narrator: Steve Shanahan
Publisher: Macmillan Audio, 2017
Format: 8 compact discs, approximately 10 hours
Genre: mystery
Obtained: library
Summary: Aaron Falk, a federal agent with a specialty in financial crimes, returns to the town where he grew up for the funeral of his childhood friend, Luke. Most believe that Luke murdered his family and then killed himself, but there are some unanswered questions. Luke's parents talk Aaron into investigating what happened even though violent crimes are not his line of work.
Thoughts: This is the first whodunit mystery that I have read that was set in Australia. I have to say, I just loved the setting. I would not want to go there, as it was hot and dry to the point of extremely serious drought, but it was the perfect setting for a story like this. The characters had depth and were realistic to me. They were not over the top or overly dramatic- just everyday people, in a bad situation- drought in a farming community. The writing style was detailed. It was the perfect pace for a whodunit, not fast, but never boring or weighed down. The writer put many clues into the story which I loved. There were red herrings that were believable. There were not many suspects, but enough with good motives to keep the story interesting. I liked that there were two mysteries- one from Aaron's past and the current one. I kept asking myself- Are these murders related? Will they both be solved?
It did take me awhile to get used to the narrator of the book. At first I felt like he was reading too fast, but after awhile of listening, I wondered if it was harder for me to follow because of the Australian accent. I did get used to the narrator, and would definitely listen to more books read by him now that I am familiar with his reading style.
I love mysteries, especially when the setting and characters come to life and the crime is not cut and dry. I love when writers bring in secrets and the past. I got all this here. Jane Harper is now on my list of favorite mystery authors. She has a second novel out, Force of Nature, which has the same main character as The Dry. The Lost Man, a stand alone mystery, is due out in February of 2019.
Tea: Just Peachy
Obtained: purchased
I purchased the Summer Favourites Iced Tea Singles from Davids Tea. The set included three single portion packets of five different iced teas for a total of 15 sixteen ounce glasses. All you have to do is put the leaves in your tea maker or infuser, pour 16 ounces of near boiling water over the tea, let it brew, and add ice. The first packet I tried was Just Peachy. This was a caffeine free blend. The ingredients listed were apple, apple pomace (apple pomace, citric acid), sweet blackberry leaves, peach (peach, sugar), natural and artificial flavouring. The packet was easy to open. The tea was a blend of chunks and leaves of all different shapes, sizes, and colors, which had a strong peach scent. I put the leaves in my tea pot, poured sixteen ounces of almost boiling water over the leaves and let this brew for four minutes. I then put ice in a glass and poured the tea over ice. The liquid was a yellowish brown and had a peachy scent. The tea had a strong, sweet peach flavor with a hint of berry in the background. The good thing about this tea was that after the ice melted, the tea did not taste watered down. What I personally didn't like was the strong sweetness of the tea. It tasted like alot of sugar had been added. This tea was not for me, but if you are someone that likes sweet peach tea or likes to add sugar to their iced tea, you would probably enjoy this one.
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