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.

I absolutely loved Dark Pines, starring the wonderful Tuva Moodyson, when I read it about the same time last year and I would definitely recommend reading that series opener before starting this book.
In Tuva we have one if the best characters I have read in a long while. She is a reporter for her local paper and is also deaf which, as well as all the troubles that would cause the average person, she also has to contend with the atmospheric challenges that come from living in a very cold, snowy place. But she's a gutsy girl and takes everything in her stride, moreso in this book than the first as you will find out as you read on...
After her report of what happened in book one starts to gain interest, Tuva has managed to catapult herself into a new job. She only has a couple of weeks to go in her adopted small town home of Gavrik and is nearly finished getting sorted for the big move south. But things conspire against her when she witnesses a suicide when the owner of the liquorice factory, Gustav Grimberg, jumps from his own chimney. Tuva takes full advantage of her attendance and starts to ask questions of people. And then another person dies, this time in suspicious circumstances, with Tuva front and centre once again. As she continues her investigation, she discovers that her old adversary David Holmqvist is writing a book about the Grimberg family, well actually dynasty and, to cut a long story short, Tuva joins up with him with the task of talking to the widow and daughter, both assisting with David's book and her article on the murder.
Along with great characters and a brilliant plot, this series delivery one of the best settings in the small Swedish town of Gavrik. It's not the most hospitable of places to visit, let alone live, as the air is dry and cold, they get snowed in, and just popping outside, for even a few moments, is a military manoeuvre. All brilliantly described in context with what is going on along the way. The setting, almost a character in its own right, adds a dark, claustrophobic feel to what is going on for the characters.
Tuva is just as I remembered her, with her amazing and often very funny observations on not just life but what is going on with her reporting. Some of her descriptions had me in stitches!
As well as Tuva, we also hear more from the familiar faces we met in the first book. Tuva's colleagues, the police, and various other characters inhabiting the town. There are also a few new characters to meet and all of these are just as well defined as the rest of the cast.
And the plot, well, what a tangled web that turned out to be! I definitely had to have my wits about me whilst reading the book as I tried to cut through all the noise, secrets, lies and duplicitous behaviour that the author delivered. And when all was revealed. Oh My! Well done once again Mr Dean.
All in all, a cracking follow up to Dark Pines. With Tuva moving to Malmo soon, I am a bit worried I will miss the old faces, but at the same time, excited to see what happens next for our intrepid reporter. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

As soon as I opened this book I was immediately plunged into sub-zero temperatures and I got the feeling that this was going to be a chilling read in more than just one way! It is Tuva Moodyson's last week in the town of Gavrik and she is preparing to escape from the claustrophobia of the small town to the bright lights and bustle of the city. But when the local liquorice factory owned by the Grimberg family becomes the focus of something very dark, it soon becomes clear that Tuva's escape may not be as clear-cut as she once thought. Will Tuva be able to escape the town or is there someone there who is targeting her too? The plot is dark and compelling as Tuva begins to uncover a series of quite unfortunate coincidences. Something bad is happening in this small town
I mentioned at the start of my post that I hadn't read Dark Pines, so did this spoil the second in the series for me? Not at all. While there is no doubt that having a knowledge of the case before and the characters would have added a little extra to my reading experience, the plot was such that it could be read as a standalone with enough back information to ensure I was involved in the book
This is one of those books where the town is as much of a character as the people are. There is a very real sense of isolation both in terms of its location, cut off from the rest of the world, but also in relation to the individuals who live and work there. It is almost like a little micro-culture of its own with characters so entrenched in their own way of living, it would feel very much like stumbling into another world should you arrive there by accident. The scenes in the forest were terrifying; I could actually feel myself there in the darkness.
There was something so darkly straightforward about the characters. There was a refreshing honesty about them, a real directness in their approach. Relationship dynamics were fascinating to read and it helped me form a very clear picture inside my head. Tuva made me "hmmm" at times. I can’t quite make up my mind if I like her or not but one thing is for sure she has engaged me and drawn me into her life.
The deeply intense and atmospheric prose paint a picture so crystal clear that it is easy to get lost within the pages and find yourself in the middle of Gavrik, wandering the streets with the town's residents. It provides a sense of place so realistic that you will be piling on the layers to keep yourself warm just to read it! Will Deans certainly brings the pages alive for the reader. Perhaps the most disturbing sense of realism for me came from food! Now not much makes me shudder and in Red Snow, it wasn't the gory deaths or scary stuff oh no, it was the vivid description of the meal prepared for Tuva by David Holmqvist that had my stomach doing somersaults! Seriously, Will Dean, I'm gagging at it still!
The dark beauty of the narrative will immerse you in the plot and indeed in the location, with a sense of claustrophobia as winter takes a grip of this small town and your senses.
Outstanding read!
This will be on my blog as part of the Blog tour

Reporter Tuva Moodyson is preparing to move from the small town of Gavrik onto bigger and better things. Her last story before she moves is the suicide of the owner of the town's biggest liquorice factory Gustav Grimberg who throws himself from the factory chimney.
As Tuva tries to find the story behind his death she is asked by local ghostwriter David Holmqvist to help him finish the book he is writing on the history of the Grimbergs. He was working closely with Gustav but now he’s dead his widow and daughter don’t want to talk to David but he feels they may open up to Tuva.
Then a factory worker is murdered and found with Liquorice coins over his eyes leading to the killer being dubbed the Ferryman. One of the drivers has a serious accident when his delivery truck is tampered with and Tuva should have been with him when the van crashed. Has the Ferryman set his sights on Tuva as his next victim?
I thoroughly enjoyed Dark Pines but this wasn’t as dark or intense so I was a little disappointed.

My thanks to Net Galley, OneWorld Publications and Will Dean for giving me the opportunity to read RED SNOW..
I absolutely hate being cold, so heaven forbid I ever end up in Gavrik, a place where the normal temperature is below...everything. I haven't read Dark Pines yet, (on my TBR list) but it didn't detract from this story which could be read as a standalone. I love Tuva, the main character. She's feisty, braver than me, and willing to stick her nose into things to get to the truth. After witnessing the apparent suicide of the owner of the local liquorice factory, (who knew?), Tuva begins to investigate his death when the local police force ask her questions about what she saw and whether there was anyone with him when he jumped off the tower. This sparks something in Tuva, who as a reporter for the local rag, the Posten can't let it go until she gets to the bottom of the story. And the story is a big one. Red Snow is the perfect name as other bodies are found, the murders seemingly linked to the first. There are some references to the previous case, (the Medusa murders), from the previous book, but I'm pretty sure reading it after Red Snow won't spoil my enjoyment. I hope Will Dean writes another novel about Tuva. I'm curious about her new job in Malmo and whether it will take her back to the characters I really liked. I hope so. A really good read in an unusual setting with brilliant characters, but get a blanket and something warm to drink. You'll need it.

This is the second book set in the Gavrik town, Dark Pines being the first in the series. I haven't read Dark Pines but it wasn't necessary to get into the story of Red Snow. Tuva, a reporter for the town's paper witnesses the suicide of a director of the local liquorice factory. Not sure whether it is suicide or something more sinister, she tries to investigate more but the official line is that it was a "tragedy" or an "accident". She is approached by a ghost writer who cannot get any further on his book, to make contact with the women of the family who run the liquorice factory, and Tuva agrees to try to find out more, on his behalf and on her own behalf for a good story for the paper.

Gavrik is a small town, completely snowed in in the Winter, and which has some strange residents. There is one main employer really in the town, the liquorice factory and probably more than half the residents of the town work there. The writing style for Red Snow took me quite a while to get into and made for hard reading at the beginning. The storyline is slow moving and at times I put the book down, and did not rush to pick it back up again. I eventually finished the book but the story for me was just okay.

Even better than Dark Pines. This is an author rapidly mastering his skill. A far more mature book, carefully thought through and utterly compelling. With the right level of support this is going to be a major hit. Not sure it would translate into TV but I see the emergence of a 6 to 8 book franchise.

Having loved Dark Pines by Will Dean, I was overjoyed to return to the isolated, intensely claustrophobic small town of Gavrik in Sweden. After the Medusa Murders investigation and the death of her mother, 26 year old bisexual and deaf since childhood reporter, Tuva Moodyson, has acquired the much desired ticket out of Gavrik, a journalist position in the bigger town of Malmo. However, plagued by guilt over her mother, the end days working at the Gavrik Posten and living in the town is a more bittersweet experience than Tuva expects as she finds herself on the scene of the apparent suicide of Gustav Grimberg as he jumps off the chimney of his factory. He is the chief of the liquorice company that Gavrik depends on, and which employs so many of its residents. The unjustly maligned pariah, the strange, hairy ghostwriter David Holmqvist with his decidedly odd culinary tastes, is writing a history of Grimbergs Liquorice and its family members that the company is depending on raising much needed revenue.

Holmqvist is experiencing difficulties getting close to the remaining women in the family, intent on and adept at maintaining their privacy. Tuva, being financially strapped, persuades him to hire her to address this issue as she has the emotional skills to get closer to Anna-Britta, the widow, the goth daughter Karin and the grandmother in the attic, Cecilia aka Cici. As Tuva finds herself on the gruesome scene of a murder at the factory, with the victim's eyes covered by black liquorice coins, referred to as the Ferryman killing, she wonders if there is a connection with the suicide. The Grimbergs have had more than their share of tragedies, additionally burdened by their responsibilities to the town, continuing obsolete and uneconomic working practices in their efforts to meet their duties to the many they employ. In the desperately cold, freezing, snowy, dark and deadly February, a challenge to be endured, it is barely surprising that so many of the locals turn to alcohol. Matters are exacerbated as danger, fear and menace begin to stalk the town, with the Ferryman at large, his sights set firmly on Tuva. Will she survive?

Will Dean excels in creating a strong sense of chilling menacing atmosphere and evoking the location so superbly, the gloom, the culture, such as the local traditions of making snow skulls, his rich descriptions ensure that you are immersed in this place with its wide cast of weird and odd characters. The author's abilities in compelling and gripping characterisation ensure that the reader's attention is held with ease. The bizarre Grimberg family, living in splendid isolation have unusual protection practices, and prove to be a remarkable mix of the vulnerable, offbeat and the courageous. Tuva feels the loss of those she has become so close to Gavrick, Lena, Tammy, not to mention her new love interest, as life moves on for her. I eagerly await the next in the series as she embarks on a new life in Malmo. This is a fantastically appealing series with a wonderful addition that I recommend highly to crime fiction fans. Many thanks to Oneworld Publications for an ARC.

Red Snow is the authors sequel to his previous book featuring Tuva Moodyson, ‘Dark Pines’. I must confess, I haven’t read Dark Pines, but this in no way affected my enjoyment of this book and it is completely capable as being read as a standalone. There are some references throughout this book to a previous case Tuva was involved in, the ‘Medusa Murders’, which I presume took place in the previous book, but not enough to confuse the story being told here. If anything, it’s made me curious about what happened and I will be adding Dark Pines to my list so I can find out.

Tuva is a fantastic character and considering this is a sequel, I was pleasantly surprised at how well developed her character is throughout the book. In my previous experience I have often found that characters that feature in more than one book don’t necessarily have as much depth to them in the books that follow after the first. Tuva is a complex character with some unresolved personal issues of her own, particularly when it comes to her late mother. I liked that Tuva is a bit ‘rough around the edges’ and doesn’t necessarily conform to the small towns stereotypes.

The setting for this book couldn’t be more perfect, a small town, completely snowed in, and temperatures so far past freezing I can’t even imagine. All these factors combined made for a very chilling atmosphere as Tuva attempts to investigate and report on the suicide and murder. The sense of isolation and the way the people in this town must have to live and adapt their lives is brilliantly portrayed by the author.

I really enjoyed this book and I think anyone who likes a murder mystery with a chilling atmosphere would enjoy it too. Don’t forget to check out Dark Pines as well, just like I will be!

I really enjoyed Dark Pines by the author, which is the first book where we get to meet local reporter Tuva. I loved being whisked back to Gavrik at one of the coldest times of the year. Especially as it made me thankful of the temperatures we get here in the UK. 

The story centres round the liquorice factory and the family who own it. It certainly piqued my interest, especially as Tuva seemed to be literally falling over dead bodies at every turn! I mean come on who doesn't like a high body count? The more the merrier for me.

What I loved is that a lot of the weird and not so weird characters we get to meet in the first book, are back again in this book, with lots of new ones. It always surprises me how many books are set in small areas and yet apart from a couple of characters, the rest are always new ones tot he readers. I really like how the author incorporates them all some how in this one which really adds to the story and it felt more comforting somehow as I knew a lot of the characters. Even though over half of them I would still steer clear of as they are very strange to say the least.

The story also pretty much follows on from the last book. It does actually read well as a stand alone though. It has left me wondering though if this the last we will be seeing of Tuva or if the author has more books in a series planned. I'm really hoping it is the latter as I think there is so much more to come from this heroine. 

Red Snow is the perfect title for this book. I loved the authors descriptions as it brings Gavrik to life and had me huddling up trying to keep warm. It wasn't only the mention of the snow but the chilling deaths that gave me goosebumps. A truly chilling, nail biter of a read. Please, please, please let there be more to come from Tuva!

This was a well constructed thriller. I liked it more than Dark Pines. The pace was good, couldn't guess the end. There are twists along the way. So, overall good, enjoyable thriller.
Thanks a lot Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Dark Pines was a good debut and Red Snow builds on that and is a great second novel. Tuva is an interesting and spikey heroine and provides an insight into the implications of not only being deaf but being deaf in a cold climate. Speaking of which, the descriptions of winter life certainly induce shivers, the weather is a character in it's own right. The human characters are well drawn and convincing. The book explores family tensions and responsibilities without getting in the way of a cracking yarn. Good twisty story and the author avoided the usual cliches of a female protagonist apparently deliberately imperilling herself against all common sense. I will definitely be recommending Will Dean to friends. Thank you to Point Blank and Netgalley for providing this ARC.

Sorry I just didn't enjoy this book and couldn't finish it.

It started with a mystery and the scene was set well, the thing I was struggling with was the number of times the word "I" was used not only when the character was referring to himself but also in the rest on the content.

This book did not flow for me. Sorry