Red Snow; suicide, murder and liquorice

Crikey – with a very public suicide, a cold-bloodied murder and a treacherous blizzard moving in, the isolated Swedish town of Gavrik is literally frozen in fear.

Red Snow is the long-awaited sequel to Will Dean’s Dark Pines (which everyone has been raving about, including me), and what a sequel it is. In Dark Pines, Dean captured an underlying sense of menace; in Red Snow, with the vivid portrayal of the harsh Swedish winter and the claustrophobia of small town dynamics, the underlying sense of menace is dramatically intensified. It is sure to have you hooked.

Red Snow is the second book in the Tuva Moodyson crime series. When the townspeople of Gavrik witness the suicide of Gustav Grimberg, the owner of the town’s liquorice factory, local reporter Tuva is compelled to investigate what really happened to lead to such a dramatic death. Then a murdered body is found inside the factory with black liquorice coins covering the eyes. Tuva, who is due to leave town in two weeks to start a new job finds herself in jeopardy as she involves herself in the mystery to get her story.

Like Dark Pines, I loved Red Snow. It has everything I want in a crime thriller; intrigue, tension and that all important wow factor. But it has more. In Red Snow, Dean reveals more about Tuva’s character, which I loved. It made me really empathise with her. Although she is disdainful of Gavrik and its residents and emotionally distant, Tuva’s need for emotional connection is skillfully explored. And yet again, Dean portrays Tuva’s disability with a sensitive realism, which I think is brilliant.

as a deaf twelve-year-old the school lunch part was always tricky. By default, some weird survival technique I seemingly haven’t shaken off, I sit with the most awkward-looking people. I’m a thousand miles away from my twelve-year-old self, happy to hold my own in court or in a press conference scrum, but here I am an ultra-aware deaf kid again, just struggling to hear what’s being said in a big room where the mouths are full and the volume’s too high.

Thanks Will Dean for #Tuva2 and another enticing read. I know Dean is now working on the third Tuva mystery, but I really don’t know where it’s going to go. I’m so intrigued to find out; I can’t wait!

Thank you also to Anne Cater from Random Things Tours for inviting me to take part in the blog tour of Red Snow. It has been a real privilege. Take a look at what my fellow book bloggers also think of Red Snow. I bet they also love it! 🙂

Red Snow was published on 10 January 2019, and is available to buy now from Amazon and other book stockists.