Force of Nature by Jane Harper

In this follow up to The Dry Federal finance cop Aaron Falk and his new partner have been putting pressure on a corporate whistleblower to pass on the hard evidence they need to prosecute. When the woman disappears while on a company team-building exercise Falk is left wondering if their pressure put her in danger. The Feds remain on the fringes of the search party, in rugged, damp bushland; with every day that passes making it less likely she will be found alive. The narrative alternates between the present day investigation and a day-by-day account of what actually happened on the corporate hike. A Lord of the Flies dynamic begins to emerge and it is clear that the other women on the team have not been entirely frank with the searching police. Harper is very good at evoking a sense of place; the steep, damp terrain of this novel provides a stark contrast with the parched paddocks of The Dry but is just as influential on events and characters. In solving the case Falk himself goes through a physical and emotionally cathartic cleansing process, which allows him to come to terms with his difficult past and prepare to move on. It will be interesting to see what kind of physical and emotional landscape a third novel takes him to.