Tuva is back and better than ever as she returns to Gavrik to join the hunt for her missing friend Tammy. But Tammy isn’t the only person to have gone missing, another young woman has also disappeared escalating the man hunt to desperate levels. With no clues to go one apart from a small splatter of blood found outside Tammy’s work place the community comes together to search the inhospitable Utgard forest. Packed to the brim with some of the shadiest characters in recent fictional history and some of the most spectacular settings, this book is jam-packed full of atmosphere and tension. On top of that it has one of my favourite female protagonists in recent history. This has been one of my favourite books in the whole of 2019 and a brilliant book to mark the start of a new year. My review maybe lacking but the book most certainly is not! Be prepared to enter the dark, creepy depths of Utgard forest and come face to face with some characters that match their surroundings. If you have read the first two books in this series then you will know what to expect with the knowledge that this is his best book so far, but if you are new to this series then don’t fear, there is enough backstory to make this read just as well as a standalone novel. However, saying that, I can not recommend all three books highly enough and all three need to be on everyones tbr pile!

I adore the Tuva Moodyson series and this one (book three) is the best yet. We join reporter, Tuva four months on from leaving Gavrik, she’s distanced herself from everything in Gavrik. Including her best friend, Tam. When Tuva gets a call that Tam is missing she jumps in her car and heads to Gavrik without a second thought. Gavrik is just the same as when Tuva left, the same creepy characters, the same small mindedness and the same small police force who soon become overwhelmed when a second woman goes missing. Tuva is tenacious in her determination to find Tammy, her resoluteness is admirable and just makes me love her even more. She doesn’t even have spare underwear or a toothbrush when she heads to Gavrik, that is true friendship! Will Dean is the king of creating one of a kind characters, I truly don’t know how he comes up with them. He is a genius! In Black River we meet Sally ‘Snakes’ Sandberg, who breeds snakes for many weird and wonderful reasons. She keeps a vast amount in her home and the description of it, really made me shiver. There’s also Fredrik, the footwear salesman with an unnatural liking for feet, Axel and Alexandra, ‘cousins’ who sell shipping containers converted into homes and of course the wood-carving sisters, who make trolls with real human hair and eyelashes. Black River is a superb crime book. There are heaps of little cliffhangers that just kept me glued to the pages and I couldn’t guess the outcome at all. It’s chilling, gripping, full of atmosphere and an all round fantastic read. If you haven’t discovered Tuva Moodyson yet, then I recommend you meet her soon.

This is the third book in the Tuva Moodyson series, and I swear each one is getting better than the last! Tuva finds herself back in Gavrik when her best friend Tammy goes missing, driving the search when it looks like no one else is interested - being Midsommar, everyone is more distracted by the heat and mosquitoes and getting a day off to celebrate the special day. With the first two being set in the cold of winter, it was unusual having it be daylight nearly 24 hours a day & there being no barrier to Tuva's investigations, weather-wise! That being said, the weather gave it an oppressive feel and really racked up the tension with all the heat and bugs. The new areas of Gavrik that are explored along with the new characters introduced are really interesting, and feel well fleshed out alongside the characters we already know & love (or find extremely creepy, naming no names), I hope we get to see more of them in future books. I really thought I knew whodunnit, but I was completely wrong and I am not disappointed in that at all. When I saw this available for review I jumped at the chance to read it, having enjoyed the previous two titles in the series, but this can be read as a stand-alone. I would definitely recommend picking up the first two books in the series though! Another brilliant title from Will Dean! I would like to thank OneWorld Publications and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I've loved all of Will Dean's books, but, the first 2 for me were missing that undefinable something that makes a book an amazing 5* as opposed to a fabulous 4*. Whatever it is, this book has it. I absolutely loved this book and the only reason I didn't devour in one sitting is that I wanted to savour the descriptive writing for as long as possible. Well, if I'm really honest, that and the fact that there are key elements of the book that I'm just too squeamish for and so, couldn't read if I was eating / had eaten / was thinking of eating.... you get it. Tuva is an incredible character, a deaf journalist who lives and works in Sweden. This book can absolutely be read as a stand alone but, honestly, I'd urge you to firstly read the other 2 books; Dark Pines and Red Snow. Mainly because they're great and also it will help set the scene for this dark thriller where 2 young women have disappeared. The town and surrounding area where the book is set is rugged, dangerous terrain that's filled with strange happenings and even stranger characters. I'll not be booking a trip here anytime soon, but, I was so hooked on the constant daylight descriptions and the affect of living in such a remote, challenging location as well as this riveting storyline, tense and harrowing searching and brilliant conclusion. A fabulous, fabulous read! Congratulations and thanks so much to Netgalley and OneWorld Publications for the opportunity to preview such an amazing read.

This is #4 in the series featuring journalist Tuva Moodyson. It can be read as a stand-alone but you are missing out on a great series. Tuva has moved away from Garrick, stopped drinking, has a new job and a fresh start. But when she hears her friend, Tammy, has gone missing she races back. It’s the height of Midsommar and in the middle of a heatwave too…. Exhausted, Tuva starts her investigation with the help of Lena and Thord, but then another woman, Lisa, goes missing. Can Tuva find her friend? Oh my nerves!!! Will Dean’s incredible writing literally had my skin itching and crawling…I could feel those bugs. Oh dear lord, the bugs…..moths, wolf spiders, midges and the nightmare that is flying ticks! Oh and there’s snakes…..a lot of snakes! The brilliantly odd characters, the breeder and the ‘cousins’ are so scary, it reminded me of the movie Deliverance, without the banjos….. So well plotted, perfectly paced, with the creepy oddness and almost stifling tension make this a read in one sitting thriller. Fantastic and a must read. Thank you to The publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read Black River for free . This is my honest, unbiased review.