Jane Harper is an excellent writer, and Exiles is a prime example of this. This continuation of the Aaron Falk series starts off a bit slow. I was left wondering what exactly the mystery was, and how Aaron would get involved since the book initially had to do with family, vocational questions, and a man's musings about his life... but the book quickly became satisfying. There were several directions I thought the author would go, and I truly enjoyed the path taken to the end. Very satisfying! I love the Australian setting of her books.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

I love @janeharperauthor’s Aaron Falk series. In the latest installment, Exiles, Aaron finds himself in Australia’s wine country a year after being a timeline witness for a missing woman. The setting of wine country is perfect and the mystery surrounding not one, but two local police investigations are full of twist and turns. I recommend creating a charcuterie snack board and pouring a good glass of wine while you curl up with your his mystery thriller.

Thank you @flatiron_books and @netgalley for allowing me to read this book ahead of publication in exchange for my honest review.

NetGalley ARC

Aaron finds himself in the middle of a mystery when he visits Australian wine country. A woman connected to his friend and colleague Raco disappeared a year prior at a wine festival. A year later and there are no answers.

This was a nice conclusion of this series. Falk is very introspective in this one, his priorities are shifting, especially when he sees how close Raco is to his family.

Overall I found the book pretty slow. The first 2/3 deals more with relationships than the mystery. The end is worth it, but the beginning was slow for me.

Based on the first half of this book, I would have to say it was better than mediocre, but not by a lot. Based on the second half, I'd say it was excellent. So overall, it falls somewhere in between those two assessments. The book starts slowly, as Harper introduces us to the inter-related characters and their lives. The Australian wine-country setting is well described, as is the surrounding bush country. The insularity of a small village as well as the multi-generational living at the vineyard add a sense of always being under observation. Conversations are picked up and falter just as they do in real life, and Harper's dialogue is surprising in the way that characters overhear and catch fragments of conversations going on around them. Reading the book reminded me of how most authors are not authentic in their representation of the scattering of words around us but rather give us fully formed verbal interactions. I found Harper's approach startling at first because it was so unique but, ultimately, quite clever.

As we begin what is the third in a series, Aaron Falk is headed to the christening of his new godson at the vineyard owned and run by friends. There have been two disappearances in the area, the most of recent of which was just a year ago and the event that triggered a delay in young Henry's christening. The previous disappearance appeared at the same time of year (during an annual food and wine festival) six years ago and in the same general location. Falk's relationships with the townspeople develop at a leisurely pace as he quietly becomes involved in the mostly abandoned investigations. Last year's disappearance during the festival involves Kim, a member of Falk's vineyard owning friends' family, and Kim's older daughter's insistence that the finding of suicide cannot be correct informs Falk's unofficial search for the truth. The older disappearance involves an unsolved hit and run accident, with the victim having ties to Kim, Falk's friends, and the festival.

Falk is a policeman, but he's involved in high level financial investigations rather than feet-on-the-ground policing. Digging into the two disappearances while on vacation is a consequence of his wanting to help the families heal, as well as an ingrained curiosity. He reflects many times about how, when pieces fall into place in an investigation, there's a moment like a key clicking a door open that often blows the case wide open. This happens as he becomes more entrenched in the small Australian town when clues that he's been gathering seem to coalesce into a pattern, The book encourages the reader to become intellectually involved in rooting out those clues and searching for connections. There are not many red herrings but, rather, many out-of-context clues. There's a gratifying feel to the solutions, and by the time they arrive late in the book, an equally gratifying feel to developing relationships.

I did not read books number 1 (THE DRY) and 2 (FORCE OF NATURE) in the series, so I can confidently say that this book can be read as a standalone, Harper has set the series up for a change at the start of book 4, and it will be interesting to see how that plays out.

In this story Aaron Falk visits a friend in South Australia. He is to be the godfather to his friend's son Henry. The christening should have been a year ago but was rescheduled after a woman goes missing from a local wine festival. Aaron's friend, Raco, asks him to look at some evidence of the disappearance. This a slow mystery. There were no car chases, no shoot outs but it was still satisfying to watch Aaron's thought process to a satisfying conclusion. The missing woman's shoe is found at a local reservoir and six years previously a man, Dean, was the victim of a hit and run in the same place. Are they connected or is this just a coincidence?

In previous books Australia was almost a character but here it takes a back seat to the local wine festival as the center of Kim's disappearance. I really like Aaron. He seems steady and kind. Kim's daughter, Zara, and Dean's son, Joel, are teenagers who have suffered a loss and have bonded together. They are both pretty mature and level headed for their age and I really liked the easy relationship they had. My only negative was there were quite a few flashbacks that weren't set apart from the rest of the story.

The story isn't a nailbiter at the end but the end was definitely satisfying. I look forward to reading many more Jane Harper books.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Flatiron for providing me with a digital copy.

3.75 stars. I’ve read and enjoyed 3 other Jane Harper books, but I think this one might be my least favorite so far. It was a little too slow for me with a twist that was unsurprising. But did did have another twist that I didn’t see coming and that I enjoyed. I like the main character, Aaron Falk, and the supporting cast of characters were interesting and dynamic. It may have just been the wrong time for me to love this one and overall I did have fun reading it.

Another excellent installment in the Aaron Falk series. Harper writes another intriguing story set in small town Australia with an interesting cast of characters and truly engrossing mystery. I love that all the pieces are there…if you can notice …you can assemble the puzzle. One of my favorite mysteries.

Thanks so much to NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

I enjoy Jane Harper's mysteries so much, especially when they include Aaron Falk. He's such a great character to be inside the mind of for a mystery. He has a personality but it never overshadows the story. He's calm, observant, and gentle.

I really enjoyed the family dynamics of this book--it might confuse some people, but I found it so interesting! Harper keeps you guessing, and mad at yourself when you can't figure it out. As Falk's journey (likely) comes to a close, Harper does a wonderful job of tying up loose ends and satisfying the reader of Falk's future.

3.75 stars
Although this is the third entry featuring Australian federal agent Aaron Falk, it would work well as a standalone.

Falk works white collar financial crime now, and it is more than a full-time job. During the course of the book, he realizes just how much his career has consumed him. He has travelled to the home of his best friends for their son's christening, and is the child's godfather. The christening was delayed by a year by the odd disappearance of a woman who vanished from a festival one evening. Falk was there for that too, and there are ties to his best friend's family.

The victim's teenage daughter is convinced her mother didn't leave voluntarily -- she was at the festival with her baby in a stroller. But there is uncertainty after it becomes known that the woman sometimes struggled with depression and had secretly quit her job.

All these tangled threads from the past and present are clouding the investigation. And there is a bit of personal angst for Falk -- one of the circle of friends is a woman he is strongly drawn too but their two realities don't seem to leave much room for overlap.

The character development here is the strong point. Falk is a decent and appealing and complex man who is pushed to re-evaluate his priorities. The mystery is somewhat implausible but reads well and has a couple of surprise elements. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Although Exiles unfolds very slowly, I was completely drawn in by the story. However, that's no real surprise because Jane Harper has a tendency to do that to me. It takes time for Aaron Falk to become enmeshed in the close-knit circle of missing woman Kim Gillespie's family and friends. And they're a very welcoming bunch-- especially since Falk is to be the godfather of the newest little addition to the group.

Everyone has a story. Everyone has an opinion of both Kim herself and what would make her simply disappear into thin air. Kim's teenage daughter Zara's battle to learn what happened to her mother is poignant, laced as it is with both a child's heartbreak and teenage obstinate prickliness. Moreover, Falk learns that Zara's friend Joel has also lost a parent under rather mysterious circumstances. And while Falk searches for answers, he's also finding good reason to re-evaluate his own life, both personally and professionally.
 
Exiles is just the sort of mystery character-driven readers are going to love. Personal histories. Emotions. Motivations. Evasions. Harper's red herrings are superb. Not only was I led down the wrong garden path, but I also discovered that I wasn't even in the right garden. 

For those of you who haven't read one of Jane Harper's books, I urge you to rectify your oversight. Exiles may be the third book featuring Aaron Falk, but it does well as a standalone. Get yourself a copy and dive right into a marvelous tale.

If this is the end of the Aaron Falk books, it has ended on a pretty high note, mystery wise. Jane Harper always has this muted urgency to her mysteries, as they never really tread into overblown and melodramatic territory, but they still manage to pack an emotional punch even when told in a matter-of-fact tone and manner. This time it's the mystery of a wife and mother who went missing during a small town fair, her infant daughter being found abandoned in her stroller in the crowd and mother Kim not showing up to meet up with her ex and teenage daughter. I liked how Falk fit into the story (through his friend Raco), and how not only is he slowly piecing together what may have happened to Kim, but also starting to look inwards of what he really wants in his own life. Overall I thought that the mystery was well crafted, I liked the characters, and I liked seeing Aaron out for one last hurrah.

EXILES is a fitting end to a well done mystery series. I am very interested to see what Jane Harper does next.

I enjoyed this mystery set in Australia, and the vivid descriptions of the area and the small town it was set in. Kim goes missing from a festival, leaving her baby in her stroller alone at the festival. A year later, Aaron Falk, a federal investigator, is in town for a christening, and he begins to investigate while there. This kept me guessing to the end. Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

Even though this is a slow paced murder mystery(ies), the pacing somehow fits and reflects the pace of life in a small town and feels appropriate. There is a lot of extended family and friend interactions so it is occasionally difficult to remember who’s who. The mysteries are well plotted with good clues throughout. This novel’s conclusion seems to end the series at 3 books but there is always a possibility of more!

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan for the ARC to read and review.

Started off a little slow for me, but also might be because I didn’t have tons of reading time the week so read only a few chapters each night - halfway through it really picked up! Less thriller, more mystery but satisfying ending and everything wrapped up nicely. It’s one of those “everyone is a suspect” books - the outcome was a surprise, which is always good!

Exiles by Jane Harper is the very highly recommended procedural and the third installment of the series featuring Aaron Faulk.

Set in Southern Australian wine country, Australian Federal Investigator Aaron Falk is going to the christening of a friend's baby and the festival on the weekend that marks the one year anniversary of Kim Gillespie's disappearance at the town of Marralee's food and wine festival. Thirty-nine-year-old Kim had tucked her five-week-old sleeping baby into her stroller and then vanished into the festival crowd, never to be seen again.

Now, a year later, Kim's older teenage daughter, Zara, and Falk's friend Greg Raco have asked him to look into the case as they ask anyone at this year's festival with more information to come forward. As he looks into the case, questions begin to emerge. What happened to Kim Gilles? What would make a mother abandon her child?

Exiles is an excellent addition to the procedural series, following The Dry and Force of Nature. Although you can read them as stand-alone novels, they are better read as part of the series. The novel sets an atmospheric, thoughtful, deliberate pace as both the setting and the investigation are carefully explored. There are plenty of suspects and motives within the narrative as the secrets and evidence is disclosed. The narrative unfolds in three timelines: a year previously, a week in the present, and three years in the future.

Harper is an exceptional writer and pays equal attention to the development of her characters as she does to the investigational part of the procedural. The characters are all fully realized, complex individuals, with established backstories. Falk is the narrator of almost all of the novel, which gives his character by far the most depth and complexity. His voice is already the main focal point of the narrative.

There is actually more than one mystery that begs to be solved in Exiles. Clues are present as the narrative unfolds and careful readers will appreciate the challenge and the presentation. This is an excellent third novel in the series and rumor has it the final Aaron Falk. This is an excellent ending to the series if that is the case.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Flatiron Books via NetGalley
The review will be published on Barnes & Noble, Book Browse, Edelweiss, Google Books, and Amazon.

“We see what we expect to see.”

Jane Harper’s novel, Exiles, is set in the small town of Marralee, and it’s here that Federal Investigator (Financial Crimes) Aaron Falk returns for a christening. The christening is of the son of Aaron’s longtime friends Rita and Greg Raco, and it was originally supposed to take place a year earlier but was postponed. Last year, Kim Gillespie, a woman with deep roots to the Raco family, disappeared from the annual fair leaving her six week old daughter in a stroller. Kim’s shoe was found in the local reservoir but her body has not been discovered. Her disappearance and probable death is chalked up to suicide and post-natal depression. In some ways the theory fits; she was on medication for depression, but in other ways, it’s a narrative that doesn’t sit easily–especially with Zara, Kim’s teenage daughter from a decades long relationship with Charlie Raco, Greg’s brother. The christening was delayed due to Kim’s disappearance, so here we are a year later.

Falk finds himself sucked into the mystery of Kim’s disappearance. Zara hasn’t moved on, and she’s friends with another local teen, Joel who is mourning the death of his father, Dwayne a local accountant who was killed in a hit-and-run accident a few years before. While the adults in town accept that Kim committed suicide and that Dwayne was killed in a random hit-and-run accident, the two teens, Zara and Josh, are not satisfied. Falk initially dismisses Zara and Joel’s claims, but there are some uncomfortable coincidences and some things that just don’t add up. Both Kim and Dwayne died during festival time. Both Dwayne, and it’s assumed Kim ended up in the reservoir. It took 5 months to find Dwayne’s body, but Kim’s body has never been found. The teenagers are unhappy with how both investigations have been handled and so they discuss their concerns with Falk. Falk never knew Dwayne or Kim but he met Gemma, Dwayne’s widow (Joel’s stepmum) some time back, and while there were sparks, Gemma turned Falk down.

Maralee is a close-knit town where most of the residents grew up together. When Kim left Charlie Raco after several decades of an on-and-off again relationship, she moved to Adelaide and there married Rowan, another Marralee refugee. It’s not exactly that the residents of Marralee picked Charlie over Kim, but Kim drifted away, and all her former friends lost touch.

This is a superior crime novel which explores the aftermath of two different and yet possibly connected crimes. The author excels at conveying the ripple effects of crime–the vast space left by violent death. Many of Kim’s former friends feel guilty about the way they lost touch with Kim in light of what seems to be her suspected suicide, and perhaps that guilt allows them to accept the narrative of suicide. It’s festival time once again; there’s an appeal launched to the fair crowd for any additional information about Kim’s disappearance. The juxtaposition of the fun-seeking festival-goers is set against the daunting theory that Kim, depressed and unable to bear life any longer, abandoned her new baby, exited the festival grounds and leapt into the reservoir. It’s a sobering thought.
Jane Harper doesn’t write cheap thrills here. This is a thoughtful, slow-burn novel which avoids surprises, shock elements and plodding police work. Instead, there’s Falk slowly chewing away at the various possibilities regarding Kim’s disappearance which he aligns with known or hypothetical scenarios. Perhaps because he’s not related to the Racos and perhaps because he is not officially on the case, he is able to ruminate on the niggling doubts about Kim and Dwayne’s cases–doubts which gnaw away at the edges of his mind. There’s something wrong, but Falk can’t pinpoint this deeply embedded feeling that he’s missing something.

With the track ahead clear once more, they walked on, the lights from the rides throwing bright colors onto their faces. Falk turned back to Raco and had opened his mouth when the words simply disappeared. It happened without warning as, in a dormant part of his mind, something stirred. Whatever it was shifted, heavy and stubborn, only to resettle awkwardly. It left behind a mild but distinctly uncomfortable sensation, as though Falk had forgotten something he really needed to remember. He blinked in confusion. What had triggered that?

For those who have read other Harper novels, these are several repeat characters, but it not necessary to read the previous two Falk novels before reading Exiles.

Review copy

I'd also listened to and review the audiobook. The story was just fantastic, melancholy, emotional and gripping all at once. I loved the focus on the setting, it felt like a real place, but also the family stuff, which was raw and moving. I love this author's works.

4.5 stars - Exiles is the third Aaron Falk book, but works perfectly as a standalone. Aaron Falk is visiting his friends Greg and Rita for the baptism of their son that was postponed from the year before because of a tragedy. The loved ones of Kim Gillespie still want answers as to why she disappeared at a local festival, leaving her baby behind, unattended in her stroller. Aaron gets caught up in this mystery and also reconnects with a friend of Greg’s who made a big impression on him a few months before.

I really like the character of Aaron and think the author did a great job of balancing present events with discussions of what had occurred the prior year. The flashbacks to Aarons meeting with Greg’s friend Gemma were important to the story, but I wish they could have been done in a way that didn’t interrupt the flow of the main story, which was a good one and was otherwise very evenly paced. In spite of the loss in momentum from these scenes, I remained very intrigued by Kim’s disappearance. I had a few theories of my own based on clues given by the author. I’m proud I was able to recognize some of the clues, but I wasn’t able to figure out the resolution of the case. The case itself has a bittersweet ending, but the overall ending for Aaron and his next chapter is satisfying. This book may be the last book in this series, but I look forward to reading other works by Jane Harper.

I received an advance copy of this ebook from NetGalley and Flatiron Books at no cost, but my review is voluntary and unbiased.

Jane Harper is so very good at weaving a mystery! I have read and enjoyed all her previous novels and this is my favorite one. The character of Aaron Falk gets more and more fleshed out with each novel, which I think is why each novel gets better and better. This one challenges Falk with two open cases, both involving the local reservoir and the annual festival of a small town in South Australia. I loved reading his interactions with friends who have become family to him who are intimately involved in this mystery. As always, Harper's Australian setting is another character of the story - this time it's the Australian bush and vineyards.

Many thanks to #Flatiron and #NetGalley for early access in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book, and it might be my favorite Aaron Falk book yet. I love how each book in this series is set in a different part of Australia, and this one reunites Falk with his friend Raco in the wine country. Like THE DRY, this case is personal because it happens to someone in Raco's social circle. That connection makes the mystery of what happened to Kim Gillespie even more heart-wrenching.

The story centers around the disappearance of Kim Gillespie, who leaves her young child at the annual Marralee Valley Festival. No one sees her go. A year on, Falk is visiting Raco during the festival, and there are still questions about Kim's fate. Falk and Raco start slowly digging into the friends who were at the festival, reconstructing what might have happened to Kim. The answer is slowly revealed over the course of the book. This isn't a Poirot-style whodunnit where there's a smoking gun; there's one key piece of information that is in front of the reader the whole time, and eventually Falk and Raco are able to put it together (though not without some tight and dramatic storytelling at the end).

I thought the mystery in this book was great, though what I particularly loved about this book was the varied and interesting cast of characters in the Marralee Valley. I liked spending more time with Raco and his family, and Falk's investment in the case is believable since it's so personal for his friend. (view spoiler) It seems like a bit much to wish for, but I hope there's another book that centers on Raco and Falk. The personal cases are so much more compelling than the ones where Falk is simply the investigator who gets called in.

Thank you to the publisher for the review copy!