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A review by mainhoonemily
The Dry by Jane Harper
3.0
Spoilers for the cold case talked about throughout the book:
As readers we don't see what Ellie wrote, as her story is told in a flashback that fills in details her diary couldn't possibly have included - such as who killed her and why. And unless she wrote down every single thought she has during the flashback, Aaron is still missing almost all the information he would need to be able to feel that the past can be laid to rest. Someone who is running away for her life is not likely to keep a detailed diary of exactly how her father abused her, or what plans she was making for her escape, or why she wrote Aaron's name and the date she was planning to leave and stuck it in her pocket*.
And even if she did detail all of the abuse in her diary, it can't tell Aaron anything about who killed her. Maybe it would make him suspect that killing her was the logical next step when Mal realized she was running away, but the whole thing was a rage-fuelled spur of the moment attack, not something premeditated that Ellie was afraid of and would have spelled out in her journal.
So maybe he walks away believing her death was suicide after all, due to the horrific abuse she was receiving at the hands of her father, but then as the reader I'm left frustrated and unsatisfied because I have more information than he does.
Also it didn't make sense that the entire town would turn against a 16 year old boy - someone they'd all known and liked and known to be Ellie's friend - when Ellie died, when her own father was right there, known to be a violent drunken asshole who'd run off his wife with his abusive ways. Surely it would've been Mal and Grant who were looked at with suspicion, not Aaron?
I liked the main mystery but I wish this part would've been handled differently. Maybe have Ellie's diary come to light sooner, and allow Aaron to read it and piece together what must have happened, and confront Mal about it and find out the truth.
*The note bothered me too because there was no reason to write it. Ellie knew her plans, she had no reason to think she would forget about them, and every reason to not want her father or cousin to find out about them. Why would she write them down? I fully expected to learn that Mal or Grant had written the note in an attempt to deflect suspicion from themselves.
Spoiler
At the end, Aaron finds Ellie's diary, hidden for 20 years. He reads it and walks away seemingly feeling that he now understands what happened. But...how can he?As readers we don't see what Ellie wrote, as her story is told in a flashback that fills in details her diary couldn't possibly have included - such as who killed her and why. And unless she wrote down every single thought she has during the flashback, Aaron is still missing almost all the information he would need to be able to feel that the past can be laid to rest. Someone who is running away for her life is not likely to keep a detailed diary of exactly how her father abused her, or what plans she was making for her escape, or why she wrote Aaron's name and the date she was planning to leave and stuck it in her pocket*.
And even if she did detail all of the abuse in her diary, it can't tell Aaron anything about who killed her. Maybe it would make him suspect that killing her was the logical next step when Mal realized she was running away, but the whole thing was a rage-fuelled spur of the moment attack, not something premeditated that Ellie was afraid of and would have spelled out in her journal.
So maybe he walks away believing her death was suicide after all, due to the horrific abuse she was receiving at the hands of her father, but then as the reader I'm left frustrated and unsatisfied because I have more information than he does.
Also it didn't make sense that the entire town would turn against a 16 year old boy - someone they'd all known and liked and known to be Ellie's friend - when Ellie died, when her own father was right there, known to be a violent drunken asshole who'd run off his wife with his abusive ways. Surely it would've been Mal and Grant who were looked at with suspicion, not Aaron?
I liked the main mystery but I wish this part would've been handled differently. Maybe have Ellie's diary come to light sooner, and allow Aaron to read it and piece together what must have happened, and confront Mal about it and find out the truth.
*The note bothered me too because there was no reason to write it. Ellie knew her plans, she had no reason to think she would forget about them, and every reason to not want her father or cousin to find out about them. Why would she write them down? I fully expected to learn that Mal or Grant had written the note in an attempt to deflect suspicion from themselves.