Exiles by Jane Harper
Rating: 5 stars

Summary: Aaron Falk returns to Maralee an outback town to visit his friend who he will be a godfather to his son. Falk started looking into a missing women’s disappearance and uncommon ears a mixed up relationship family secrets and a towns hidden pasts.

Comments: A tidy little crime novels that hits on all cylinders. Much enjoying the Falk series and to see where it might go. A little tease towards the end. Great fast paced read

Wow! I loved this murder mystery. Jane Harper definitely throws some twists and turns in to keep me guessing in a good way! She developed the characters and the setting in a way that me me feel part of the story!

From its opening scene of a sleeping baby abandoned in its stroller--its mother missing--to its final pages, Jane Harper's EXILES delivers a mesmerizing, intricately woven suspense novel which is among her best. Highly recommended.

Many thanks to Flatiron Books and to Netgalley for the opportunity and pleasure of an early read.

Another well crafted, enjoyable mystery from Jane Harper. I enjoyed this in many levels-complex characters, families with lists of secrets, a disappearance that has many different suspects until the very end when maybe I suspected this person but the backstory that was held back til the end made it difficult to identify the killer and you as the characters will say, of course. The ending leads me to wonder if the series will continue; I certainly hope so.

I was thrilled to see Jane Harper return to her Aaron Falk series with this latest mystery set again in the vast Australian Outback. As with Harper's other novels, the story takes its time in unfolding as the reader is introduced to the characters and the intricate web of relationships that connect them all.
In Exiles, Falk takes a rare vacation to attend the baptism of a friend's son, but when a woman in their extended circle goes missing from a local fair, leaving her own infant unattended, an urgent hunt is under way to find her.
The story alternates in time between two fairs, the one in which the mother disappears, and a year later in which Falk returns for the delayed baptism. There are other unsolved mysteries in this small town as well, including the hit and run death of the former husband of Falk's new love interest.
Despite the measured pace, this book had me hooked and left me with a serious book hangover. I hope that we don't have to wait several years again before Harper continues Falk's story.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced readers copy of The Exiles in exchange for my honest review. This book will not be released until January 2023.

Yet another great installment in the Aaron Falk series by Jane Harper! Exiles starts off a little slowly but builds into a great story with some twists and turns along the way.

Kim has been missing for a year, having last been seen at a large annual festival in the Marilee Valley in Australia.. She is presumed to have drowned in a nearby reservoir but her family and friends have not given up the search for her. Arron Falk happens to be a close friend of the family and therefore becomes involved in the mystery of what may have happened to Kim. Let just say that things are not what they appear to be with Kim's unexplained distancing from her friends and family.

Many thanks to Jane Harper and Netgally for this ARC. 4 stars for me!

Exiles is the third in Jane Harper's Aaron Falk series. In this installment, a mother has disappeared from a town festival and left her baby abandoned in a stroller. Aaron is in town for a friend's christening who is also friends with the missing woman. The christening Aaron is there for is cancelled while they search for their friend. After 12 months of searching and grief for the families, no real evidence of the suspected crime and no body is found. Aaron is back in town for the rescheduled christening which is unfortunately falling at the same time as the anniversary of the town's missing woman. With the festival back in town, questions are once again asked and people are trying to remember events and conversations to make an appeal for the families of the missing woman. This is a tight knit town and secrets come to light and information that may not have been deemed important is revealed. Aaron also has a love interest in this one which I thought was beautifully done.

As always, Jane Harper weaves a wonderful story with some twists I didn't see coming, but they made perfect sense. Aaron Falk is a favorite series of mine and I am hopeful we will see more! Thank you to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for the early copy. This is my unbiased review.

Pub date: January 31, 2023
Pages: 368

Writing: 4/5 Plot: 5/5 Characters: 5/5
Aaron Falk from Harper’s The Dry reappears with previous partner Greg Raco in this suspenseful story of a once local woman who disappears at the town’s annual Festival, leaving her six week old baby and purse in a stroller on the grounds. As always, Harper is a master of suspense, painting the every day lives of a rural Australian community amidst the slow understanding that not all was what it seemed. I can never stop reading any of Harper’s books once I’ve started them. Well written, characters that I would love to spend time with, and some well done detailed reflection on what a policeman sees, thinks, and handles that little niggling in the back of a trained mind that whispers “you’re missing something.”

I love Jane Harper! The books gets better and better, and not only give a week wonderful sense of Australian life, but also reman twisted and terrific. She’s a bloody genius!

Exiles is the third in Jane Harper’s Aaron Falk series, and it’s another great one! I had loved reading all of Harper’s books, and this is no exception. Kim Gillespie disappeared a year ago, leaving behind her six-week-old daughter. The genera thought is that Kim committed suicide with postnatal depression, but her body has never been found. When Falk goes to visit his friends Greg and Rita Raco for their son’s christening in the small South Australian town where Kim disappeared, he finds himself trying to solve the case.

Harper’s character development is superb. I found myself hoping it wasn’t certain characters who committed the crime because I liked them so much - and I always root for Aaron Falk’s happiness, as well. I didn’t predict the outcome of this book - and certainly not in the exact way it happened. I highly recommend this and all of Jane Harper’s books!

The character development and location details were excellent but the story was a slow build to a somewhat predictable finish. The setting was beautifully described and many of the characters were folks you would enjoy spending an evening with sometime. While an interesting, engaging read, this book didn’t captivate me like other ones by Jane Harper.

Thanks to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for this ARC.

I've loved Harper's other novels so this was a no-brainer for me! Set in Australia, we begin with an unsolved murder as Kim apparently left her baby in the stroller at the annual festival and just disappeared. Of course it is abnormal behavior...what new mother would do that? But Aaron Falk is on the case and as we know from the previous books, he's all about the details and will stop at nothing until he uncovers the truth. Lots of "before" and "after" but Harper never loses sight of the goal and there are many red herrings and "what?" moments to keep readers guessing until the bitter end! She had me at, "G'day mate"!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

Another really solid mystery from Jane Harper. 1 year ago Kim vanished from the opening night of the towns annual wine festival, leaving her infant daughter in a stroller under the Ferris wheel. Her teenage daughter Zara does not accept the theory that her mother committed suicide by jumping into the towns reservoir. Falk, who is in town for a christening, is drawn into the mystery of both Kim and the death of another town resident at the reservoir 5 years earlier.

Aaron Falk joins his law enforcement pal Greg Raco in a lush vinyard-filled valley to become a godparent to his child - for a second time. When the christening was originally scheduled, also during an annual food and wine festival, the event was canceled after Raco's brother's ex-wife disappeared, leaving an infant behind in a stroller parked beside the fair entrance. A year later, authorities suspect she drowned herself, a victim of post-natal depression. But her teenage daughter from her first relationship isn't convinced and has prepared an appeal for more information to be held at the festival. Did anyone see anything last year when the woman abandoned her child and vanished? Aaron, a federal police officer, can't help being drawn in.

As usual, Jane Harper weaves a dense story rich in character development. relying on interpersonal relationships and small-town intrigue to carry the plot rather than dramatic action. I found the first chapters confusing as they introduced a number of characters and switched between the events of the previous year and the current situation, but once I sorted out who was who and what happened when it was smooth sailing, though frankly rather slow, at least in the first half of the book. The trick with Harper is to relax, slow down, and let the story surround you.

Those looking for a thriller should look elsewhere, but if character development is your thing, this slow burn of a mystery, one that introduces the armchair traveler to yet another side of Australia's geography, will fit the bill.

We often see what we expect to see.

In Exiles, we are reminded that old and new friends share secrets and history. What has happened in the past always impacts the present. How easy one can become an exile of a town or group by choice or force sometimes without fully realizing it. Slowly through the passage of time with no one to really notice. Jane Harper sets up lots of red herrings about what could have driven a new mother to abandon her baby.

If you haven’t read the other two Aaron Falk books, you will not be lost on the relationships between characters. And there are great new characters, I especially loved Gemma. The conversations between Gemma and Aaron were amazing and I adored their relationship. Also just like all Jane Harper books the setting becomes another compelling character. The vineyard, the town of Marralee, and the reservoir all take on a life of their own.

A definite addition to your TBR pile.

Thank you NetGalley and Flatiron Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Another great Falk adventure. Harper brings Australia to life as a character in these novels. They always keep you guessing. Full of friendship and family and connections, this story keeps you reading.

Exiles is the third book in the Aaron Falk series and the best yet! When Kim goes missing during a small town’s busy festival everyone assumes she has drown in the reservoir, except for her teenage daughter Zara. Aaron happens to be at the festival and a year later returns. Through friend and familial connections he ends up looking into the case as well as another that may or may not be connected.

Exiles is a book in the Aaron Falk series set in the lushly described Australia.

Harper always delivers a good mystery with twists and turns that catch me off guard.

A woman and her child are at a festival when the mother disappears. Her group of friends all come together and form a family of their own.
Falk seeks the missing mother with some side romance - he is always a delightful character and skilled detective.
The friends of the missing mother seem to be concealing a secret that draws the attention of Falk.

I didn't want this book to end and Harper's vivid descriptions always leave me wanting to journey to this country,

Welcome Back Aaron Falk. Echoing the pace of life in Marralee compared with Aaron Falk's busy life in Melbourne, Exiles begins deceptively slowly. Layer upon layer, Jane Harper builds a complex picture of life in a small rural town, where everyone knows everyone and everyone knows what to expect. Despite a cast of many characters, Harper depicts each one carefully and with the complexity befitting them, just as she depicts the landscape that plays an important part in the story, as it always does in Harper's books. Once again, Harper gives us a mystery, actually two mysteries, that are hard to figure out but, when revealed, tie together all of the clues that's she's planted along the way. Jane Harper remains one of my favorite mystery writers. I hope there are more to come in this series.

Brilliant! Jane Harper has hit it out of the park with the third installment in the Aaron Falk series. Like her other novels, this work really evokes the beauty and vastness of Australia as well as the character of its people. I really enjoyed the developments in Falk’s personal growth in this novel as well as insights into his skills as a police investigator.
Harper juggles many characters in this mystery and manages adeptly to make each a unique and well developed person.
While there is definitely sadness and anguish (this is a murder mystery after all) what shines in this novel are the characters - both people and places - she shares with us. Looking forward to the next installment in Falk’s journey!