Jane Harper (born 1980) is a British Australian author known for her

crime novels Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, crime novel, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives or fiction that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a profession ...

, including '' The Dry'', ''

Force of Nature Force of Nature or Forces of Nature may refer to: * Fundamental interaction: gravity, electromagnetism, weak interaction, strong interaction Film and television * ''Forces of Nature'' (1999 film), an American romantic comedy * ''Forces of Natu ...

'' and ''

The Lost Man ''The Lost Man'' is a 1969 American crime film, written and directed by Robert Alan Aurthur, loosely based on British author F.L. Green's 1945 novel ''Odd Man Out'', which was previously made into a 1947 film directed by Carol Reed and starring ...

'', all set in rural Australia.

Early life

Born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, England, Harper moved to Australia with her family when she was eight. There, she lived in the outer

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

suburb of

Boronia ''Boronia'' is a genus of about 160 species of flowering plants in the citrus family Rutaceae. Most are endemic to Australia with a few species in New Caledonia, which were previously placed in the genus ''Boronella''. They occur in all Australi ...

, and eventually acquired Australian citizenship. As a teen, Harper returned to the UK with her family and lived in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

. Later, she attended the

University of Kent The University of Kent (formerly the University of Kent at Canterbury, abbreviated as UKC) is a Collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom. The university was granted its roya ...

and studied English.

Career

After graduating with a degree in English and history, Harper gained an entry-level journalism qualification. She got her first job as a trainee at the ''

Darlington & Stockton Times The ''Darlington & Stockton Times'' is a British, regional, weekly, paid for, newspaper covering the Richmond - Darlington - Stokesley - Thirsk - Leyburn area. It is published in Darlington by Newsquest Media Group Ltd, a subsidiary of Gannett ...

'' in

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

. Later she was a senior news journalist for the ''

Hull Daily Mail The ''Hull Daily Mail'' is an English regional daily newspaper for Kingston upon Hull, in the East Riding of Yorkshire. The ''Hull Daily Mail'' has been circulated in various guises since 1885. A second edition, the ''East Riding Mail'', covers ...

''. In 2008 she returned to Australia to take up a reporting job at the ''

Geelong Advertiser The ''Geelong Advertiser'' is a daily newspaper circulating in Geelong, Victoria, Australia, the Bellarine Peninsula, and surrounding areas. First published on 21 November 1840, the ''Geelong Advertiser'' is the oldest newspaper title in Victo ...

'', then in 2011 became a journalist for the ''

Herald Sun The ''Herald Sun'' is a Conservatism, conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the American Rupert Murdoch, Murd ...

'' in Melbourne. Harper worked as a print journalist for 13 years before writing her first novel, ''The Dry'', which was published in 2016.

''The Dry''

''The Dry'', Harper's first novel, is a thriller set in a fictional town five hours west of

. A Federal agent, Aaron Falk, returns to his old hometown to attend the funeral of his childhood best friend, Luke. Falk teams up with a local detective and tries to uncover the truth behind Luke's sudden mysterious death, only to find more questions than answers.

''Force of Nature''

Harper's second thriller is set in the thickly forested mountains north-east of

, again featuring Federal Agent Aaron Falk. A group from a Melbourne tech company go on a retreat in the mountains, where Alice Russell, one of the women in the group, disappears while navigating the Mirror Falls trail. Falk has been investigating the company for financial irregularities, and the woman was his secret informer.

''The Lost Man''

Harper's third murder mystery is set in

south west Queensland South West Queensland is a remote region in the Australian state of Queensland which covers . The region lies to the south of Central West Queensland and west of the Darling Downs and includes the Maranoa, Queensland, Maranoa district and parts o ...

on a large cattle station. The police find nothing in Cameron Bright's death from

dehydration In physiology, dehydration is a lack of total body water that disrupts metabolic processes. It occurs when free water loss exceeds intake, often resulting from excessive sweating, health conditions, or inadequate consumption of water. Mild deh ...

to suggest foul play, and the investigation is carried out informally by the dead man's elder brother Nathan.

''The Survivors''

In Harper's fourth murder mystery, the death of a young woman in a Tasmanian coastal town unearths questions around events during a storm 12 years earlier, when two men drowned and a girl disappeared.

''Exiles''

The third and final Aaron Falk mystery. Visiting friends in South Australian wine country, Falk finds himself drawn into the investigation of the disappearance of a woman a year ago at the local food and wine festival, and the hit-and-run death of a man a few years before.

Awards and recognition

In 2014, ''

The Big Issue ''The Big Issue'' is a United Kingdom–based street newspaper founded by John Bird and Gordon Roddick in September 1991 and published in four continents. ''The Big Issue'' is one of the UK's leading social businesses and exists to offer ho ...

'' published one of Harper's short stories. In the

Victorian Premier's Literary Awards The Victorian Premier's Literary Awards were created by the Victorian Government with the aim of raising the profile of contemporary creative writing and Australia's publishing industry. As of 2013, it is reportedly Australia's richest literary ...

in 2015, Harper won an award for an unpublished manuscript (''The Dry''). In 2017, Harper won the Gold ABIA for Book of the Year and the

Davitt Award The Davitt Awards are literary awards which are presented annually by the Sisters in Crime Australia association. The awards are named in honour of Ellen Davitt (1812–1879) who wrote Australia's first mystery novel, ''Force and Fraud'' in 186 ...

for ''The Dry'', and the

Gold Dagger The CWA Gold Dagger is an award given annually by the Crime Writers' Association of the United Kingdom since 1960 for the best crime novel of the year. From 1955 to 1959, the organization named their top honor as the Crossed Red Herring Award. ...

awarded by the

Crime Writers' Association The Crime Writers' Association (CWA) is a specialist authors' organisation in the United Kingdom, most notable for its "Dagger" awards for the best crime writing of the year, and the Diamond Dagger awarded to an author for lifetime achievement. ...

of the United Kingdom for the best

crime novel Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, crime novel, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives or fiction that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a profession ...

of the year. Harper became a ''New York Times'' bestselling author for ''The Dry''.

Reese Witherspoon Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon (born March 22, 1976) is an American actress and producer. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Reese Witherspoon, various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Aw ...

bought the rights to ''The Dry'' to turn it into a movie, which was released in January 2021. ''Force of Nature'' was adapted as a film in 2024 under the title '' Force of Nature: The Dry 2'', with

Eric Bana Eric Martin Andrew Banadinović (born 9 August 1968), known professionally as Eric Bana (), is an Australian actor. He began his career in the sketch-comedy series '' Full Frontal'' before gaining notice in the comedy drama '' The Castle'' (199 ...

in the lead role of Aaron Falk. ''The Lost Man'' was shortlisted for the 2020

Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award The Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award is one of the UK's top crime-fiction awards, sponsored by Theakston's Old Peculier. It is awarded annually at Harrogate Crime Writing Festival in the UK, held every July, as part of the H ...

, and won the Barry Award for Best Mystery/Crime Novel in 2020. ''The Survivors'' was shortlisted for the general fiction book of the year at the 2021

Australian Book Industry Awards The Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) are publishers' and literary awards held by the Australian Publishers Association (APA) annually in Australia since 2001. The awards celebrate "the achievements of authors and publishers in bringing Au ...

. It was also shortlisted for the 2021

Colin Roderick Award The Colin Roderick Award is presented annually by the Foundation for Australian Literary Studies at Queensland's James Cook University for "the best book published in Australia which deals with any aspect of Australian life". It was first presente ...

. In 2025, ''The Survivors'' was adapted into a

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

series. ''Exiles'' was shortlisted for the Best Crime Fiction at the 2023

Ned Kelly Awards The Ned Kelly Awards (named for bushranger Ned Kelly) are Australia's leading literary awards for crime writing in both the crime fiction and true crime genres. They were established in 1996 by the Crime Writers Association of Australia to reward ...

Bibliography

Aaron Falk novels * * * Standalone novels * *

Adaptations

* '' The Dry'' (2020) * '' Force of Nature: The Dry 2'' (2024) * ''The Survivors'' (2025)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harper, Jane 1980 births 21st-century Australian novelists 21st-century Australian short story writers 21st-century Australian women writers Alumni of the University of Kent Australian crime fiction writers Australian women novelists Australian mystery writers Barry Award winners British emigrants to Australia Living people Naturalised citizens of Australia Women crime writers Writers from Manchester Writers from Victoria (state)