Will Dean's second Tuva Moodyson novel is a solid piece of crime fiction, with a plot that skilfully weaves, and misdirects the reader. This is my first read of Will's books, though, and as good as the story is the thing that really caught my attention was his characterisation, particularly of women. This is a book dominated by women and it would be easy for any author, male or female, to fall back on stereotypes under these circumstances, but the closest Dean comes to doing so is with a pair of peripheral characters: odd-ball sisters, wood carvers who live deep in the forest. Other than this it seems that Dean has achieved what so many authors claim to do but fall short of - writing people, not 'characters'. His attention to the details of his characters and the minutiae of their lives speaks to actual observation of women rather than wishful thinking, and saves him for the other pitfall of modern writers: writing a standard 'character' and simply swapping gender. All of this is realised most vividly and delightfully in Cece - the eighty-two year old matriarch of the town's pre-eminent family. A relic of the swinging 60's, and an era of greater wealth, productivity and social responsibility, Cece is colourful, kindly and sad, and entirely worthy of a book of her own. All in all this was one of my favourite reads of last year, and a wonderful introduction to a new author.

Now that her mother is dead and her obligations fulfilled, Tuva Moodyson is free to leave Gavrik. She has secured a new position down south and is in her final two weeks working for the local paper Gavrik Posten, when two disturbing and newsworthy events grab her attention. The first is when a man falls from the chimney of the Grimberg liquorice factory which he owns. Seemingly an unexplainable suicide, turning the snow red with blood. Shortly after, when Tuva is being given a tour of the factory by its janitor, the body of a murdered man is found. He had been stabbed and two liquorice coins placed over his eyes. Such a dramatic statement captures the public imagination as #Ferryman begins to trend. As the town is struck by blizzards, Tuva knows she is onto a story of a lifetime if only she can get access to the factory and the family. Help is on hand though as the local ghost writer is putting together a history of the family and she volunteers to be his researcher. Another decidedly off kilter and slightly macabre mystery for Tuva to solve. Only the second novel into the series, but I love nagging sense that there is something not quite right that the reader picks up on, even when situations appear normal. Being on edge, on tenterhooks, that propels you forward determined to discover what happens, if only to calm the nerves. This is only heightened by a cast of strange characters added to the mix. They may seem odd, creepy, even sinister, most are relatively harmless, but not all. This is a story with change at its core. Tuva faces a huge upheaval in her life with her impending move, the ghost writer is finally producing a book in his own name, there is a new police officer in town and there is the gradual decline of industry. The liquorice factory is still a major employer but has been in steady decline, along with the paper factory, over many years. The business is one stuck in the past, mired in tradition and desperate for new blood and new ideas. Will the latest events lead to closure? Superstition and mythology also add to the mystery of the events. The Ferryman, a reference to Charon of Greek Mythology, who carries souls across the rivers Styx and Acheron to the underworld, which is explained for those who are unfamiliar with the myth. The factory is built upon deconsecrated ground, could this be a factor in the bad luck that follows the family. Either way the Grimberg women are superstitious to the extreme. The liquorice factory is now in the hands of three generations of Grimberg woman, who now must become more hands on in its running. They bring the mixed attitudes of employers whose presence dominates small towns. Benevolent and caring, treating the staff as part of the family, but still somewhat aloof with a sense of their importance, after all they built the town. The women bring real depth to the story, making it strongly character based, with a touch of mystery and eccentricity. These are the women Tuva must befriend and get to open up. The setting is atmospheric with a decaying factory added to the small town caught up in a blizzard. The factory building provides the perfect setting for the best scenes, including one which is fraught with danger. Its is also used to bring a touch of the Gothic to events. The story progresses at a steady pace, which feels right, the weather conditions and story set up would dictate this. In amongst the darkness there are also some lovely funny moments, I loved the employee nicknames Great White and Pissy Knickers. As for Tuva herself, it is a stressful period. Now she has the time to process her relationship with her mother, as aspects of the case provide reminders of this. She finds a possible new partner just at the time she is leaving town, so perhaps that might just be a passionate interlude. Although unintended she also puts existing friendships under strain, as she comes to realise that her leaving affects more than just herself. Whether she has burnt her bridges will remain to be seen.

I'm grateful to Point Blank for an advance copy of Red Snow. Like its predecessor, Dark Pines, Red Snow focusses on Tuva Moodyson, ace reporter for local paper the Gavrik Posten. Moodyson is a magnificent creation - it would be easy to describe her with a string of labels; Deaf, bisexual, borderline alcoholic... but in reality, she walks of Dean's pages as much more than that, a rounded and vulnerable young woman still mourning the loss of her mother and mired in guilt. That makes her especially sympathetic when a series of calamities befalls a local liquorice factory, and its owners, the Grimbergs - three women of different generations, including young student Karin, who are left bereft, guilty and endangered. If Moodyson gives this book heart and a recognisable, relatable focus, the Grimbergs are plain weird and present fascinating - and difficult - subjects for investigation. There are (at least) two facets to this. First, the series of events is so varied that it's hard to see them as the work of a single hand. There is a suicide, road accidents, a murder and much more, so that what's going on seems to have more affinity with a curse than with criminal activity. (The Grimbergs certainly take it that way, relying on a bewildering array of superstitious "precautions" to defend them against the "old evil"). Secondly, the family is reclusive, inward looking and almost fortified in their grand "residence" above the factory. No one is else is allowed in - even meals have to be passed one by one through the velvet curtain - and Tuva soon finds that who is available for interview, and what they're prepared to talk about, is as idiosyncratic as the nature of the events themselves. To add to all this, Grimberg's is the town's chief employer. As she found out in Dark Pines, the good folk of Gavrik don't welcome outside scrutiny of their town and its affairs and there are already enough rumours about the factory. Is it about to be sold? Will the workers lose their jobs? Can it continue manufacturing in the tried and tested way, against competitors who have automated and brought in new ways and methods? Symbolised by the fleet of antique delivery trucks, which are not up to the rigours of a sub-Arctic winter, Grinberg's seems about to career off the road into a ditch, even without the series of calamities described here. It's a fascinating background, and Tuva doesn't have much time as she's leaving town in a few days for a better job, and warmer weather, in the south of the country. That, to me, introduced a note of regret and unease to the story. Over the course of the book she is packing up her stuff, arranging to ship out and saying goodbye to people and things. While Tuva does't have much affection for the place she refers to as "Toytown" this all takes its toll - especially the prospect of leaving her beloved Tammy - and by the end of the book she's barely holding things together. Tuva really is a character you can feel for and the sense of stress, of loss, of guilt (as well as her bad choices - she makes many!) really piles on the tension. I almost felt as though either the crime spree, or Tuva's personal issues, could have made a book in themselves and having them collide meant at times I became frustrated when the writing had to break off from one to deal with the other. This is a tense, readable and engrossing book, with Tuva really goes through the mill here. She's not helped by becoming reacquainted with some of the creepier characters from Dark Pines - the two wood carving sisters, stalkery taxi driver Viggo, and the ghost writer and experimental chef David Holmqvist who's writing a book on the Grimbergs and lists Tuva as his researcher. I hope she makes a quick recovery from the events of Red Snow in time for more books - while she may have escaped the extremes of the winter weather, I have a feeling she'll find as many dark corners in the south as in Gavrik Commune and I want to hear about them soon!

A great read! This is book two of the series, read book one first. Fantastic descriptions and the ambiance is chilling. A definite recommend for anyone who enjoys cold, dark crime thrillers.

Yessss! Tuva is back and it's another gripping, weird, frozen tale of this strange town, it's inhabitants and the kooky newspaper reporter who gets wrapped up in a series of murders all in her last week as she plans her move to a new Job in a new town. This is a stand-alone thriller, but, I'd strongly recommend you read 'Dark Pines' first as it really sets the scene and ensures you won't miss any of the subtle references. It's also a fab read! Red Snow is a really great, dark read about some strange deaths in an even stranger town and there's not much to like in either the town or it's residents, so, it's no surprise that Tuva is planning her move. Still, she feels an unusual sadness in leaving and the book has a melancholy throughout. The atmospheric writing means it takes me longer than usual to finish a Will Dean book as I savour every sentence, well, that and the Swedish names and customs that are peppered throughout. I can't easily describe how this writing gets into your system and chills you to the bone, it just does. I wish there was more to like as the majority of characters are gruesome, weird, or, both. The town is strange and faintly evil and even our lead character has major flaws. Having said that, I thoroughly enjoyed both books and this provides for a gripping read with twists and turns aplenty and I was so quietly confident that I'd sussed the murderer and was so wrong - it's full of red herrings and fabulous twists. In summary, wrap up well (I guarantee you'll feel the cold), pour yourself a glass of rum or cup of hot chocolate and enjoy the strangeness. Thanks so much to Will Dean, the publishers and Netgalley for the opportunity to preview this excellent book.