Summary

In Chapter 1, Aaron Falk, a financial investigator for the government, returns to Kiewarra, where he had grown up. Kiewarra is a rural farming community in the midst of a drought that has lasted for two years. Falk lives and works in Melbourne, and has returned to attend the funeral of his childhood friend Luke Hadler. It looks as though Luke killed his wife Karen and son Billy before killing himself. Falk also comes to the funeral because he has received a letter from Luke’s dad, Gerry Hadler, that reads, “Luke lied. You lied. Be at the funeral” (7). In Chapter 2, Falk is approached after the funeral by Gretchen Schoner, a childhood friend who still lives in Kiewarra. She is now grown and is raising her young son, Lachlan “Lachie” Schoner, on her own. Gretchen says that tensions are high in the town due to...