Australian author Jane Harper has become a household name in the crime fiction genre. Bursting onto the scene with rural sensation The Dry, she followed up her award winning success with Force of Nature set in Victoria and headed to outback Queensland for The Lost Man. In her latest release The Survivors, Jane Harper takes the reader to a small town on the Tasmanian coastline.

In Evelyn Bay we're introduced to a cast of characters in a coastal setting that will be instantly recognisable to Australian readers. As in previous books, it's the setting that shines brightest. I think Jane Harper writes Australian locations exceptionally well and they're a pleasure to occupy between the pages.

Kieran is our main character and he returns to town for a visit and receives a mixed reception. He isn't warmly welcomed by everyone and it becomes clear he was responsible for a tragedy on the day of the big storm. What happens from there is a slow slow burn mystery with a few obvious red herrings.

As Kieran remembered certain events, the flashbacks became a little confusing. Not contained within their own chapters or unfolding in a clearly defined present/past format, the memories were included within the chapter and I found this style a little confusing and it disrupted the flow.

I enjoyed the dual meaning of the title with The Survivors referring to an artwork at the base of the cliffs commemorating lives lost and saved in a shipwreck long ago whilst simultaneously applying to the survivors of the more recent storm, who carry the tragedies of that day with them still.

A present day crime brings those tragedies kicking and screaming to the surface as the reader tries to get to the bottom of what happened to Bronte and what took place on the day of the storm.

While The Survivors didn't reach the dizzy heights of perfection of The Lost Man for me, the second half of the book did end strongly. The Survivors by Jane Harper is a stand alone recommended for fans of Aussie crime who enjoy a good mystery.