I love this Swedish mystery series, which is a kind of cross between Twin Peaks and Midsomer Murders, so I was thrilled to get my hands on an early copy of Black River.
Journalist Tuva Moodyson thought she'd seen the back of rural and decidedly creepy Gavrik, where she used to be a reporter on the local newspaper. But as her best friend has gone missing, and no one seems to be taking the disappearance seriously, Tuva returns to investigate. She has plenty of suspects to choose from (the inhabitants are decidedly...eccentric, to say the least) but someone seems determined to sabotage her efforts. Then a second girl vanishes...
Tuva is utterly brilliant. I love her! She's one of my favourite 'detectives'. The Swedish setting is incredibly atmospheric, although all those bugs and insects are a little too authentic, and the part where Tuva heads into the deep dark woods is just like a Grimm fairy tale. We meet some of the kooky characters from the previous books and a whole lot of new ones (hello, Snake Lady!). Every time I thought I was one step of Tuva, the clue would turn out to be a red herring. I hadn't a clue who the villain was, although I was rather hoping it might be - but no, I mustn't spoil it for you!
Black River puts a modern and slightly surreal spin on the traditional murder mystery. You don't need to read the other books in this series but you would get more from the story if you do. With the weird and wonderful characters, I can certainly see it appealing to fans of Midsomer Murders and Twin Peaks. Thoroughly recommended!
Thank you to Will Dean and Point Blank for my copy of this book, which I requested from NetGalley and reviewed voluntarily.
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