Exiles by Jane Harper

Exiles is the third in the Aaron Falk series, and the fifth Jane Harper thriller. In a word: brilliant.

If you need a few more words, glad to oblige. Jane's writing voice is both lyrically poetic (what I call "beautiful words") and able to carry the narrative forward. The plot is fricking AWESOME, and I loved the twists and turns of the story. Rich in characterisation and imagery, Exiles (just like all the others) is the kind of book that transports you to a different reality. As you read the book, you want to visit Australia's wine country, take part in the festival, experience the slower way of life in a small town. That very slower way of life is fittingly mirrored in the book's slower pace, more murder mystery than thriller - and it's a good thing.

Blurb:

At a busy festival site on a warm spring night, a baby lies alone in her pram, her mother vanishing into the crowds.

A year on, Kim Gillespie’s absence casts a long shadow as her friends and loved ones gather deep in the heart of South Australian wine country to welcome a new addition to the family.

Joining the celebrations is federal investigator Aaron Falk. But as he soaks up life in the lush valley, he begins to suspect this tight-knit group may be more fractured than it seems.

Between Falk’s closest friend, a missing mother, and a woman he’s drawn to, dark questions linger as long-ago truths begin to emerge.

Travel by Bullet (The Dispatcher, #3) by John Scalzi

For various reasons, I started the Dispatcher series with book number 3, but "Travel by Bullet" works well as a stand-alone SF thriller. It's a typical Scalzi, with a fast-moving plot, brilliant dialogue and likeable characters. For fans and newbies alike.

Blurb

The world has changed. Now, when someone is murdered, they almost always come back to life—and there are professionals, called "dispatchers," who kill in order to save lives, to give those near the end a second chance. Tony Valdez is a dispatcher, and he has never been busier.

But for as much as the world has changed, some things have stayed the same. Greed, corruption and avarice are still in full swing. When Tony is called to a Chicago emergency room by an old friend and fellow dispatcher, he is suddenly and unwillingly thrown into a whirlpool of schemes and plots involving billions of dollars, with vast caches of wealth ranging from real estate to cryptocurrency up for grabs.

All Tony wants to do is keep his friend safe. But it’s hard to do when friends keep secrets, enemies offer seductive deals, and nothing is ever what it seems. The world has changed... but the stakes are still life and death.

My Darling Daughter by J.P. Delaney

 Great author. Great read.

Blurb:

The child you never knew knows all your secrets . . .

Out of the blue, Susie Jones is contacted on social media by Anna, the girl she gave up for adoption fifteen years ago.

But when they meet, Anna's home life sounds distinctly strange to Susie and her husband Gabe. And when Anna's adoptive parents seem to overreact to the fact she contacted them at all, Susie becomes convinced that Anna needs her help.

But is Anna's own behaviour simply what you'd expect from someone recovering from a traumatic childhood? Or are there other secrets at play here - secrets Susie has also been hiding for the last fifteen years?