If you like slow-burning, character-driven stories, pick up The Survivors by Jane Harper. This new mystery is set in Tasmania in the fictional coastal town of Evelyn Bay. 30-year-old Kieran and his young family have returned to help his parents move to a facility for help with Kieran’s dad’s advancing dementia.
Kieran hasn’t been home in twelve years, since the day a fateful storm. During that storm, Gabby, a fourteen-year-old girl, disappeared and was never found. That same day, Kieran’s brother Finn, and his friend, Toby drowned while attempting to rescue Kieran and his summer fling Olivia, Gabby’s sister. Kieran’s feelings of guilt about that day have kept him away.
The community of Evelyn Bay, fractured by the events of that long-ago storm, is a resentful bunch. Tensions are high when, on the night Kieran returns, a young woman is found dead on the same beach where Abby went missing. Could these crimes be connected?
Set against a backdrop of perilous cliffs and treacherous caverns, The Survivors is an evocative read. Read it for its surprises, intrigue, and plenty of suspicious characters with long-held grudges. Like the other Jane Harper mysteries I’ve read, The Survivors will keep you guessing until the end. Place your hold here.
-Carol
Read it or Weep 