Why Australia’s Outback is a perfect setting for horror and crime stories

The flies are not feeding on animal carcasses, however. They are feasting on the bloodied remains of a mother and young son, butchered in their own homes. It is, apparently, an open-shut case of murder-suicide: Luke Hadler, driven mad by years of punishing drought, turned a gun on his loved ones first, then on himself.

Kiewarra is suffering the worst conditions of a century, a tiny outpost shimmering under “day after day of burning blue sky”. Farmers tell themselves “it’ll break”, repeating the words “out loud to each other like a mantra, and under their breath … like a prayer”. No one is surprised when one of their own finally snaps.

All, however, is not what it seems. When policeman and former Kiewarra resident Aaron Falk returns home for his childhood friend’s funeral he starts to ask questions. Did Luke really kill his wife and son in cold blood? Or is foul play at hand?

Harper’s debut novel , published in May, portrays the outback at its most cruel: a force that gives and takes life, as unforgiving and fierce as the bleak Nordic snowscapes that have become synonymous with great crime and horror writing.

In the wake of The Dry’ssuccess (it has already been sold to more than 20 publishers worldwide and Reese Witherspoon’s production company has optioned the film rights ) – it is worth asking the question: how has Australian crime writing carved itself a niche using the landscape as a canvas for fear?