I was attracted by the setting of this book, as much as anything. Snowy, isolated, creepy. The protagonist, Tuva, was a great character too, being deaf, and this added to the story a well as giving it that extra sense of foreboding. A great book, good plot, great characters. I have since read the second in the series too and enjoyed it just as much.

A now legendary modern classic that has resulted in all sorts of spin offs. What's going on, will you figure it out before the reveal? Possibly. I'd highly recommend you listen to this on audiobook.

What an epic debut novel. A stunning, ball out of the park read. Characterisation, setting and storyline complement each other perfectly. Brilliant read.

Tuva Moodyson is a journalist who has had to relocate to the isolated Swedish town of Gavrik in order to be closer to her ailing mother. The town is surrounded by the Utland Forest, which is massive and a huge source of sustainment for the town through hunting and harvesting. When a pair of eyeless hunters are found murdered in the woods this sleepy town is suddenly on high alert.

In the midst of hunting season, Tuva must gather her courage to fight her fear of the woods, as she leads the investigation into these murders for the local paper. This type of story is the kind of thing that makes or breaks careers. In the town of Gavrik it is also the kind of case that can break your connection to the town if you’re an outsider, as Tuva is quickly finding out. As Tuva gets closer to discovering the murderer strange things start happening to her. Is she being followed? Could Tuva’s life be in danger?

DARK PINES is the launch of Will Dean’s series surrounding journalist Tuva Moodyson. The reader finds her feeling like an outsider in her new home of Gavrik, where if you’re not a local, you just don’t quite fit in. Moodyson is thrown into an elaborate murder investigation when a local man is found murdered in the woods with his eyes removed. This crime has connections to a handful of murder from 90’s and it is up to Tuva to put her reputation on the line as she looks into the backgrounds of the locals.

This book is incredibly atmospheric, as the reader can feel themselves being transported to Sweden and creeping through the Utland Forest with Tuva. Dean writes this town and forest in a way that immediately makes the reader feel on guard. You feel like someone is watching you and Tuva. Not only is there a sense of tension due to atmospheric qualities, but this feeling is also present because of the way Tuva is portrayed as an outsider in this town. The reader can feel her isolation. They can feel Tuva being turned away and shut out. This is one of those instances where the reader is just as lost for answers as the main character because they are both outsiders in this small town.

Tuva Moodyson is not your typical lead for a Nordic Noir book, which is why I think she is so compelling to read about. Tuva is not particularly brave while investigating the murders, but she does trust her guts. Tuva challenges those around her, i.e., the police and town residents, to see the clues and hints that she sees. She desperately wants the town to look into the corrupt individuals in Gavrik, but is consistently met with responses that hint that she should mind her own business. Watching Tuva push herself to go to the places she doesn’t want to, bend the law following a lead, and force herself to keep going no matter the obstacle is empowering and satisfying.

DARK PINES is a classic atmospheric Nordic Noir mystery. This book is filled with an intricate murder mystery, small town drama, and creepy characters, perfect for reading in the winter months. If you’re looking for something a little slower paced to go with the chilly weather then put this one on your TBR!

Great story by Will Dean. Really fabulous story, that kept me turning the pages!! A thrilling plot, and characters.

This is a dark, atmospheric crime book, very beautifully written. I was drawn into the story from the first page on.

If you like your Scandi-noir to be page-turning, full of forests and snow, then this is the book for you!

I have to admit when I first sat down to write this review I had all of these thoughts bubbling around in my head but when it came to writing it all down I’m really not sure I can do this book justice. There is just something special about this book and it isn’t just one thing, it’s pretty much everything, the setting, the characters and especially those last few chapters that can only be described as nail biting! So forgive me if I ramble on or don’t make much sense but what I will say is that Dark Pines is a book that is definitely worth picking up!

When I started this book I knew that I wouldn’t be able to read it in one go because I had so many other book commitments and well life gets in the way too. So in actual fact it took me quite a while to read it. However I loved that I could actually savour the story and for me reading it this way probably made it even more enjoyable! I didn’t forget what was happening even if I may have left it a day or two before picking it back up and for me this is a sign of a well written and thoroughly engaging book. One that will stay in your mind making you think about it even when you aren’t reading it.

The setting is what can I say other than perfect, almost like a character in itself one minute a calm and quiet environment then the next moment changing into something else entirely. The mystery side to this story easily kept me guessing with plenty of suspects to choose from. This all added to the tension and suspense that Will Dean expertly weaved through his story. At times it was subtle but still simmering and then at other times it was making me sit upright waiting to see how it would all end.

Tuva is such an interesting and engaging character and by the end of the book I was really attached to her. There is a feisty but sensitive side to her personality and she has her hopes and fears just like the next person. Tuva is deaf but it doesn’t define her she is matter of fact about it and just gets on with her daily life. Tuva along with her best friend Tammy really help to bring this story to life and I’m so eager to see what will happen next in Red Snow.

As you can probably tell I really enjoyed Dark Pines, a book that pulled me into the forest and the community along with experiencing the growing tension page by page!

Over the last few years, as I've read more crime novels, I've discovered a love for books set in Scandinavia and Iceland. Dark Pines is no exception. The descriptions within the novel are beautiful, appealing to every sense. This is perhaps more noticeable as Tuva's deafness makes her rely on other senses. I was drawn into the novel by the setting, and the atmospheric scenes, as the dark woods surrounded by myth and mystery gave me a creepy feeling,
Dark Pines is the first novel i the series featuring Tuva Moodyson, and I must say that Tuva is my heroine! She is deaf, and this plays a significant part in the novel, but she never lets it define her or take her away from a big story. This is something I rarely see in disabled characters in literature and I love that Dean has depicted her like this. I can't wait to see what she does next.
The community of Gavrik is very close knit , which means that whilst not everyone likes each other (and the tension is there for all to see) they do know each other well, including the rumours and secrets surrounding them. This means that everyone is a suspect, and I enjoyed getting to know them as Tuva did, being able to work out my own theories as to who the perpetrator was, Tuva finds herself in some very dangerous situations, and this contributes to making Dark Pines a very compelling novel.

Dark atmospheric and simply wonderful, I loved everything about it and really am waiting for the next book to come out. And I really like the character Tuva Moodyson again. So dark and full of weird characters very reminiscent of Twin Peaks, A good book which I would highly recommended without any hesitation. I didn't download it of here as it was a PDF and I hate to read PDFs so I waited for this book to come out and bought it.

This psychological thriller brings together so many brilliant elements that it deserves to be hailed from the outset. A deaf female journalist investigates the case of an eyeless corpse in a promising debut novel set in rural Sweden.

Dark Pines has all the tropes of the subgenre – gloomy weather, trees, neighbourhood weirdos, and of course elks. The novel stands out for its heroine, Tuva Moodyson, a young deaf woman who works as a reporter for the local paper in the remote town of Gavrik. Negotiating a narrow path between the community, who don’t want to see their town portrayed in a bad light, and the truth, Moodyson investigates the residents of Mossen, a tiny gathering of houses in the forest closest to an eyeless body.

Thankfully this is intended to be the first in a series, and Moodyson, whose deafness is handled sensitively by author Will Dean, is a character whose progress is worth following.

First book of the year, devoured over the course of a weekend, Dark Pines takes us deep into the immense forest of Utgard where a young reporter investigates the death of a hunter. Could it be connected to the infamous ‘Medusa murders’ of twenty years ago?

Regular readers will be aware that I love a book which has a real sense of place, and Dark Pines is just such a book. The pines of Utgard are superbly creepy, with a tangible sense of menace made all the scarier by its inhabitants. They’re a wonderfully odd bunch – the ghostwriter with a fascination for Tuva Moodyson’s deafness, the slightly (very) odd twins and their wooden trolls. The story follows Tuva as she investigates first one murder, and then another, drawing her deep into the forest. It’s not just the forest though – Gavrik is one of those small town, tightly-knit communities where everyone knows everyone else, but everyone seems to have a secret. Can Tuva get to the bottom of the killings?

Tuva Moodyson is an interesting character – her deafness plays a key part in the story, but never feels forced or gimmicky for the sake of plot. She has a rugged determination in pursuit of the story which will give her a future outside Gavrik – I really liked her, and hope we get to see more of her investigations in the future. She’s just one of a set of great characters though, and the plot is artfully crafted, with the suspense ratcheting up notch by notch. Tuva’s fear of the forest is tangible – forests can be creepy at the best of times, but imagine a forest where you are unable to hear anything, knowing that there is someone out there with a rifle who could very well be taking aim right now.

Dark Pines is a splendid Noir, beautifully written and unsettling. Will Dean has come up with a brilliant character in Tuva Moodyson, and I’d love to see her again.

Highly recommended.

Tuva,a deaf reporter who is used to big city reporting, has moved to a small Swedish town to be close to her dying mother. Two decades ago, three men were killed and had their eyes removed. The cases were never solved. Now, 20 years later, similar murders are taking place. Tuva is determined to unmask the killer, but the small town residents do not want the town's name drug threw the mud. The town is known for its great hunting and bad publicity could destroy that image. Also, all the residents are very close and they many want to protect friends and family, even if they are the killer. There are lots of secrets in this little town which is pretty much surrounded by dense, thick, dark woods. This was a great read in which I really did not know who the killer was until Tuva found out for herself. I will surly look for more books by Mr. Dean. I am giving this book a solid 4-star review.

This is a difficult review to leave because I was looking forward to reading this for a long time and when I started, I found things that bothered me from, what seemed like, the get-go. By the 22nd page I think I had read at least three times that electronics that were almost dead and had to be recharged.

Yes this bothered me.

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.

There was a stupid mistake made - sole purpose... to move the story forward. If the right decision is made, the story stalls. This is straight from my notes. I do not remember what the mistake was, but even if I did I wouldn't say since it would be a spoiler.

I didn't find this to be dark enough. This was a regular murder mystery. I didn't sense anything special about this happening in Sweden; it could have occurred in the Pacific Northwest and it would have read the same to me.

While I wasn't surprised when the killer was revealed, this 3-star read gets bumped up to 3.5 after the resolution and vindication. It was easy to read but I wasn't really engaged.

Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for providing an electronic copy in exchange for an honest review.

Totally adored this book. Although I had it here I also went out and bought a copy as I loved it so much. I think that it takes the conventions of this kind of writing and totally subverts them to bring the reader something totally fresh and exciting and it certainly had me hooked from the start. It is totally deserving of all the online attention it's had as Will Dean certainly can write! I felt that the characterization of Tuva was extremely strong indeed and the ending was something that I was longing to reach and yet kept delaying as I really didn't want it to end. I am always on the look out for fresh and original voices for our senior library and to get our senior students reading more diverse and interesting fiction and I'll certainly be recommending this to them. Dark Pines is a first rate piece of contemporary fiction that I kept thinking about, for a long time after I'd read it. I really hope to hear more from Will Dean and I'm looking forward to seeing ewhat he comes up with next!

what i really liked about this was the absorbing and persuasive first person telling - that was not claustrophobic, and yet the story moved on - the flavour of the characters including his boss at the newspaper, egging him on to make a Pulitzer from this small newspaper was really full of brio and good humour. i also liked that the main character, who gets in to hot water over this long-standing serial murderer has a disability that plays right into the story without indicating he is a victim. really really well done .. befriending people throughout the town leads him into danger but also to find the killer. a page-turner.

An unusual detective drama, not least because our detective is a profoundly deaf woman and the setting is (very) rural Sweden. People are being shot in the forest - its the hunting season - but these are not accidents. Pacey and readable it will keep you gripped, and you are unlikely to guess who the killer is.

I read this over a few months, and every time I came back to it I was instantly engrossed in the mossy, rotting, claustrophobic Swedish forest. All this plus a deaf, bisexual protagonist – I loved it.

If you are looking for a mystery which will keep you guessing, this book is for you. There is something new about the plot.
Even though i was not the fan of writing as it was tooooooooooo detailed for me.
But the writing is very apt and atmospheric.
You keep reading about these details like a detective.
It's a good bing-able read

Dark Pines is a great debut with a lot to recommend it - a strong, likeable main character in Tuva Moodyson; an atmospheric setting; an interesting crime. However, there were times when I wanted the author to 'get on with it'. The final chase scene, for example, we don't need Tuva to describe each ditch she stumbles into, or how many mosquitos are biting her, or how many trees there are - WE WANT TO GET TO THE CLIMAX! We especially don't need to know what the forest looks like - again - because the author has already described this in great length at earlier stages in the book. Also, I couldn't give this 5* because I worked out the identity of the killer and in the climax scene the explanation of their motivation was a little weak. That said, Dark Pines is an enjoyable read and there were moments of genuine creepiness. I'd read another Tuva Moodyson crime should the author write one.