Tuva Moodyson Mystery Series 3 Books Collection Set By Will Dean (Dark Pines, Red Snow, Black River)

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With a wonderful main character, Tuva Moodyson, a deaf, bi-sexual reporter who has found herself relocated from London to Gavrik (Toytown) to be near her dying mother and working on a small local newspaper when a body is discovered deep in the forest in the middle of hunting season with the same signature as a serial killer from the 90’s. Determined to solve the crime herself, Tuva decides to investigate despite hating nature, elks, the forest, the dark, insects and small towns. Similarly although I enjoyed both the main character and a number of the side characters, I would prefer if the author moved on to something different and allowed the future of characters to remain in my imagination – but inevitably within the genre this is likely to be the first in a series of appearances by Tuva who will presumably stumble across other small town murders in future. The novel features Tuva Moodyson, a journalist, previously working for the Guardian in London, now living in Gavrik (a fictional town near Gothenburg) and working on the small local newspaper. She made the move to be close to her mother who is spending her last days in a nursing home nearby. It didn’t feel brave at the time. It would have felt more brave staying in London, to be honest,” he says. “Being on the tube at 6am every day, we just didn’t want that any more. And I craved more time to read and write, and to take that seriously. I never thought I would be a writer and never imagined it until I was in my mid-30s.”

I really like this series, like the quirkiness of it and the tension which flows through every book. It is not a fast paced series, nor should it be as that would not fit the setting. It is atmospheric, the author using the landscape and, in this case, the seasons to full effect. The book is set towards the end of the really cold season, but there is still that sense of the darkness that envelops everything, setting a kind a of moody and eerie tone that when coupled with a community of people who can hunt and shoot with a stealth that cannot be matched, it really sets you on edge, not sure what to expect or when. There are certainly a lot of surprises in the book, as well as some elements which seem almost inevitable, and be prepared to be caught unaware when the truth of what happens is revealed as, in true Will Dean style, he takes us right to the edge with a high stakes, jeopardy laden ending that really gets the pulse pumping.The climax and solution to the murders is a bit of a surprise, but the presentation is clumsy, drawn out, pacing poor. Almost an info-dump. One hearing aid gone. The urge to stand is unbearable. I want to get up and walk. I want to spread my arms. This story is based in Sweden in a small rural town, out in the deep, dark woods – like, really deep and really dark. It’s the type of place where the best coffee is at McDonalds, and everyone knows everyone else. Our main character is Tuva, she is an outsider and most of the locals treat her as such. Tuva is a journalist for the local paper and she is tasked with covering a recent murder. A murder where the victim is shot in the woods and his eyes are removed. Nice hey? Tuva is a very likable protagonist, she’s bright, and inquisitive and determined to do a thorough job, no matter how much the locals may be offended by her inquisitiveness and reporting.

Dean built their home himself, making money with a sideline in repairing vintage watches. Keeping the idea to himself, he began thinking about writing.To me this series is less about the “crimes” and more about the characters and the tiny Toytown in Sweden that Will Dean brings to life. I feel that I know Gavrik so well that I don’t even need a SatNav to get from the The Grimberg Liquorice Factory to Snake River. Tuva is a deaf journalist, able to hear with a hearing aid, she likes turning it off and disconnecting herself from the world. She lives in northern Sweden which is a tight community- not seemingly welcoming change, or open minds. Detached from her dying mother, she is a lone soul with a will to make the career move to move away from the area. I liked this, how could you not like something so atmospheric and that takes you to the wilderness of Sweden forests? My head hits a wall. The flat tunnel closes in and I realise there is no other end. This is a one way journey. The reader finds themselves in Sweden facing loss; grief; differences; secrets/lies; discrimination; small-town mentalities; judgement; a search for the truth – all is not what it seems in the isolated Swedish town, that’s for sure!!

While this book can definitely be read as a standalone do be aware that it references a lot of content from the previous books, but it doesn’t name any names in terms of who did what. Elk hunt is a big thing in this town called Gavrik, men usually hunt. Nature and wilderness makes Tuva uncomfortable and she doesn't enjoy it, but when an hunter is found dead in the forest, his eyes taken out, Tuva would have to investigate because this is her chance to write a good story to progress her career. A vast, dark, Swedish forest, a deaf print-journalist and the suspected return of a serial killer from the past -- these are the main ingredients for this fabulous concoction of Scandi Noir from British ex-pat author Will Dean. It's the first in a series that I'm excited to have discovered for myself. Dean met his Swedish wife in his first week of university in London. An “awkward, shy, weird, bookish kid”, he’d decided to study law at London School of Economics because “that’s the thing you do if nobody in your family has been to university before – you study something that leads directly to a job”.Another character…well two…who captured my interest were those creepy sisters and their trolls….WTAF!? I rarely get freaked out…but WOW – totally got under my skin ….even now I am getting shivers just thinking about them! From the blurb one would assume that Dark Pines is a typical Scandinavian thriller - a chilly tale of murder set in a small town, deep in the forests of rural Sweden. THE AUTHOR: Will Dean grew up in the East Midlands, living in nine different villages before the age of eighteen. He was a bookish, daydreaming kid who found comfort in stories and nature (and he still does). After studying Law at the LSE, and working in London, he settled in rural Sweden. He built a wooden house in a boggy clearing at the centre of a vast elk forest, and it's from this base that he compulsively reads and writes. If you're a regular bloke with a regular job, I get it. If you're a reporter, your phone, Ipad and camera are so crucial to doing your job that they should always be charging when not in use. In the small town where Tuva worked, the electronics weren't always in use. We're constantly being reminded that Tuva is deaf. It seemed to me that maybe the author thought that we'd forget and wanted us to remember because it may or may not play a role later on. Tuva is always fidgeting with the dials on her hearing aids, putting them in, taking them out, covering them so they don't get wet. I get it - she's deaf. I have a great-uncle that uses aids and people are always commenting on how he's constantly messing with the volume, so maybe this is a thing and I'm wrong.

The heroine of this book, Tuva Moodyson, a young deaf woman, is the local reporter in a very small Swedish town called Gavrik. She usually reports on local news, run-of-the-mill stories derived from rumour and council minutes. However, when a dead body appears, with the eyes missing, in Utgard forest, not far from Gavrik, Tuva has the chance to write a story that will change and further her career. The frightening thing about this murder is that it resembles the 'Medusa murders'... murders that took place two decades before. So is this a copycat? Who is the killer and why are they starting up again now? Will sets us on a remote farm with a lovely name – Rose Farm – but despite Shakespeare saying “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet” this is not the case here. There is a smell – a dark, raw smell about the place. A murder suicide took place here many years ago. A father killed his entire family leaving only the baby behind. And across both are laid a local strip club (and former brothel) and rumours of the activities of a high-stakes poker group – all of which emerge to Tuva and the reader as possible clues to the resolution of the new series of murders that are striking the town – all it seems of family-men hunters and all mutilated for their eyes. Tuva Moodyson is a deaf journalist working for the Gavrik Posten. She is reeling from her partner’s shooting and its repercussions: Noora Ali, her beloved, is now in a coma like state with no chances of getting better. It seems the murders have started again with the discovery of the mutilated body of a hunter in the forest.Bad Apples is noir at its very best… If you like “heart in your mouth” reads that will keep you up all night with all the lights on, then this is for you.’ This is my first Tuva Moodyson (I hadn't realised it was a series) although I've read Will Dean's excellent work previously. I have to say it's not essential that you read the earlier ones but I always like to start at the beginning. I think in this case it might help.