Black River

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There are certain series that I like to ration – saving them as little treats and eking out the pleasure as long as possible.
The moment I finished reading Will Dean’s Dark Pines, the first in his Swedish-set Tuva Moodyson series, I knew this was going to be one of them. I downloaded Red Snow and Black River immediately, but let them lurk on my Kindle, practising self-discipline worthy of a monk.
In this, the third entry, Tuva, the investigative reporter that his books centre on, is living away from Gavrik, the isolated town in northern Sweden where the previous books are set. But she is called back when her best friend Tammy goes missing.
Unlike the previous two outings, which were set in the depths of a Swedish winter, rendered so well by Dean that you found yourself wanting to put another layer on, this one is set at the height of summer. A hot, sticky, tick-ridden affair, where the days are almost endless. As before, the town of Gavrik, with its strange, creepy inhabitants, centred around a liquorice factory and bounded by near impenetrable woodland, is the back drop. The town is riddled with secrets and eccentric characters, and frankly you can see why it’s not a tourist Mecca!

The central protagonist is Tuva Moodyson, one of the most original characters in crime fiction, and the book benefits from being told from a strictly first-person perspective. An investigative reporter,  she is also bisexual and hearing-impaired, reliant on hearing aids. These last two facts could easily be a gimmick, but in Dean’s hands are simply a part of what makes her an interesting individual.
He has taken great care to ensure that the manuscripts are read by a hearing-impaired beta reader and so the books give a real insight into the ways in which society still treats the hearing-impaired differently. Yet all three books are balanced in its portrayal; they aren’t polemics about equal rights, but they do make you stop and consider if there are small changes that you could make to make interactions with deaf people more easy. We also gain an insight into the remarkable technology in modern hearing aids – such as Bluetooth connectivity for mobile phone use – as well as their shortcomings, such as how sensitive they are to moisture, including sweat on a hot summer’s day. He’s not afraid to use them as a plot device, but again it’s not overdone – rather a case of ‘well obviously, if that was happening then she would find that difficult to deal with’.
As an aside, I don’t know how much hearing aid batteries cost, but if they aren’t available for free then they should be! Tuva gets through dozens!

One of the strengths about the books is the unique perspective of its author. Will Dean is from the English east Midlands originally, before moving to Sweden where he built a house in the middle of a swamp-infested forest. You literally could not make this up. This not only gives his books an authenticity that few others can match, he also has an outsider’s eye that even the most accomplished native Swedish writers can’t replicate. A great example in this book is the festival of Midsommar, a uniquely Swedish celebration of the longest day of the year. He is able to highlight those traditions that to Swedish people seem commonplace, yet will fascinate those outside the country. It’s a little like the first time you celebrate Christmas with your partner’s family; you notice all the tiny differences from the Christmases that you are used to, that seem obvious and inconsequential to them.

All in all, I can’t recommend this series highly enough. Although you can read them as standalones, in any order, I recommend starting with Dark Pines, so that by the time you reach Black River you will have a greater appreciation.