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2022: A mother disappears from a busy festival on a warm spring night.
2022: A mother disappears from a busy festival on a warm spring night.
Her baby lies alone in the pram, her mother’s possessions surrounding her, waiting for a return which never comes.
A year later, Kim Gillespie’s absence still casts a long shadow as her friends and loved ones gather to welcome a new addition to the family.
Joining the celebrations on a rare break from work is federal investigator Aaron Falk, who begins to suspect that all is not as it seems.
As he looks into Kim’s case, long-held secrets and resentments begin to come to the fore, secrets that show that her community is not as close as it appears.
Falk will have to tread carefully if he is to expose the dark fractures at its heart, but sometimes it takes an outsider to get to the truth…
South Australian wine country
The novel takes place in the fictional village of Maralee. It is somewhere in the famous Australian region where the vineyards are plentiful.
At the start of the novel as Falk arrives in the area, he stops off at a place of beauty where there is a viewpoint overlooking some cliffs. The view is spectacular but he doesn’t stop for too long.
The fairground in the novel is very atmospheric. You can feel the cold air in your face, hear the music playing, see the flashing lights and the shadows and then you see the baby in the pram, all alone.
This is very atmospheric. The writing draws you in to a very claustrophobic place where not everyone will leave.
Destination: South Australia, Maralee (fictional) Author/guide: Jane Harper Departure Time: 2022
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