Dark Pines

I really enjoyed this book and read it very quickly! A mystery set in Sweden, that takes us to a dark place. Very clever, with a great protagonist, I would definitely recommend this book!

Tuva was a very interesting character, and I hope I'll get to read more books with her as the central character. Will Dean's description of Gavrik made it feel like the most inhospitable place on earth! Certainly not somewhere I'd like to visit. Brilliantly, everyone is a suspect, and they all make very believable murderers, making Gavrik even less like a place anyone would chose to live! The denouement is a real wide-eyed, jaw-dropping, OMG moment. Dark Pines does not come across as Mr Dean's debut novel. Extremely atmospheric, face paced and clever. I can't wait to read more from this author.

I very much enjoyed this book and found it hard to believe that it was a debut novel. The story is set in a small Swedish town and centres around a young deaf newspaper reporter called Tuva Moodyson. During the elk hunting season (something very important to a lot of the townsfolk) two hunters are murdered and these deaths have many similarities to three old historic cases. Tuva reports on these crimes, hoping that she will make her name with the national papers. This makes her unpopular with the locals who want to preserve the good name of the town and puts her in a certain amount of danger. The author really captures how lonely and frightening it can be to be alone in the dense forest and does a good job of creating a cast of eccentric local characters and suspects. Although the story moves along at a good pace there is no sense of being rushed and it makes for a good read. This book is described as "Tuva Moodyson Mystery 1" so I am hopeful there will be more in the series. Recommended.

I read two books simultaneously this week: both set in sinister forests, both vastly different, both absolutely brilliant. (The other one was Uprooted by Naomi Novik). On the surface Dark Pines is a Scandinavian murder mystery, but I liked the way the author gave the rural Swedish village setting a slight fairy tale quality, with very quirky (sometimes downright oddball) inhabitants. A kind of Nordic noir crossed with Twin Peaks.

Twenty years ago a serial killer murdered three hunters in Utgard Forest, removing their eyes; now it appears he's back. Tuva Moodyson, a reporter for the town paper, is hoping to use this story to kickstart her career. She's interviewing the locals, hoping to learn how this series of tragedies is affecting their lives, but is the killer hiding amongst them?

I loved this book! I adored Tuva and the way the author took his time to create the world she lives in. I did work out the identity of the bad guy pretty quickly, but then I do read a lot of crime fiction. It didn't stop me enjoying the story and appreciating how clever the author was in setting up each clue and red herring. The writing is good, each eccentric character fairly leapt off the page, and I loved all the little details about life in rural Sweden - even the descriptions of the mosquitoes and ticks!

Dark Pines would appeal to anyone who likes the kind of murder mystery where they can solve a puzzle. There is little violence and nothing too gruesome - provided you don't mind the occasional mention of that serial-killer-who-removes-eyeballs thing. I really enjoyed it, have no hesitation in recommending it, and I'm really looking forward to reading the next one in the series.


Thank you to Will Dean and Point Blank (Oneworld) for my copy of this book, which I requested from NetGalley and reviewed voluntarily.