Dark Pines

This is a book that has been on my TBR for a couple of years. Ever since I read and loved Dean's The Last Thing To Burn in 2021 and realized Dark Pines featured a deaf main character, I wanted to read this debut by this British author who lives deep in a Swedish forest. 

Dean draws on his experiences living in a remote area of Sweden and has set his debut novel in a small isolated town on the edge of a vast Swedish forest which gives this book a wonderful eerie and atmospheric setting. Tuva Moodyson is a deaf woman who is new to town, the proverbial 'fish out of water' and when a violent murder occurs that is reminiscent of a murder spree years prior, Tuva sees it as an opportunity to make a name for herself as a journalist.

This slow burn Nordic Noir mystery has an interesting secondary cast and a bunch of potential culprits who are an eccentric bunch with a creepy flair. The premise is strong, but I easily predicted the identity of the murderer and would have loved a few more twists. I also wish less time was spent on issues that didn't propel the story - like reminding readers that Tuva is deaf, detailing the many times she changed her hearing aid batteries and her numerous trips back and forth to the hamlet deep in the Utgard forest. 

I wanted to love Tuva, but she didn't win me over and I couldn't take her seriously as a journalist. She's curious and eager, but she's more impetuous than she is skilled as a journalist, continually making silly choices that put her in danger. Dean attempts to humanize her with her complicated relationship with her mother, but it felt extraneous and was largely ignored.

This debut had all the fixings for a great, eerie mystery - dark woods, bodies piling up and oddball, creepy culprits. I loved the sinister feel with descriptions of the backwoods and the small, insular community on its edge, but overall, it fell a bit short in my expectations. I'm glad to have finally read this book and to see how far Dean's writing has progressed in his later books.

My Rating: 3 stars

Author: Will Dean

Genre: Suspense

Series: #1 in the Tuva Moodyson series

Type and Source: Trade Paperback, Personal copy, TBR

Publisher:

First Published:

Book Description from GoodReads: An isolated Swedish town. A deaf reporter terrified of nature. A dense spruce forest overdue for harvest. A pair of eyeless hunters found murdered in the woods.

It's week one of the Swedish elk hunt, and the sound of gunfire is everywhere. When Tuva Moodyson investigates the story that could make her career, she stumbles on a web of secrets that knit Gavrik town together.

Are the latest murders connected to the Medusa killings 20 years ago? Is someone following her? Why take the eyes? Tuva must face her demons and venture deep into the woods to stop the killer and write the story. And then get the hell out of Gavrik.