Ice Town by Will Dean #IceTown @willrdean @HodderBooks @HodderFiction #TuvaMoodyson #BookReview

 

'Deaf teenager goes missing in Esseberg. Mountain rescue are launching a search party but conditions hinder their efforts. The tunnel is being kept open all night as an exception.'

When journalist Tuva Moodyson reads this news alert she knows she must join the search. If this teenager is found, she will be able to communicate with him in a way no one else can.

Esseberg lies on the other side of a mountain tunnel: there is only one way in and one way out. When the tunnel closes at night, the residents are left to fend for themselves. And as more people go missing, it becomes clear that there is a killer among them ...

ICE TOWN is an unputdownable new standalone Tuva novel, which will delight existing fans of the series and bring many new readers to it.

Ice Town by Will Dean is published on 7 November 2024 by Hodder. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review. 

Ice Town features much-loved character Tuva Moodyson, but is a standalone story and not marketed as part of the series featuring this character.  Whilst it would be great if you'd read the previous Tuva books, to get a feel of her character, it's really not essential for Ice Town. The author gives enough of Tuva's back story, without going into unnecessary detail, and new-to-Tuva readers can enjoy it just as much as those who've followed her from day one. 

Tuva is a journalist; a proper, old-fashioned reporter who writes long-form articles which are published in a newspaper and read by many. She's well aware that digital journalism is becoming more and more popular, but she's something of a stubborn woman, and will continue to write for as long as is possible. Tuva is deaf, she wears expensive, high functioning hearing aids. She doesn't hide behind her disability, it's just part of her. There's nothing that will stop her from getting to the bottom of a great story. 

Esseberg, otherwise known as Ice Town, is a small isolated community many hours away from Tuva's home in Gavrik, Sweden. When Tuva reads that a deaf teenager is missing in Esseberg, she is immediately pulled towards the story. She knows that she has to travel to help to search for Peter, she will be able to talk to him, to discover what has really happened. 

It's a long long journey, it's cold and the roads are not great. Esseberg town is accessed via a tunnel, this tunnel is closed for hours each day. Once in the town, and the tunnel is closed, there is no getting out. 

Esseberg is a strange little place. Dominated by the tunnel and a large administrative building, there's little else. A church, a school, a bar, a couple of tattoo places. There's a high-end hotel high up on the mountain, accessed by a failing ski lift. Tuva manages to bag one of only two rooms in the only B&B in town .... but there's no breakfast. Thank goodness for the Willy's supermarket, where she can stock up on sweet treats to keep her going. 

In Tuva's usual style, she doesn't hesitate to start to ask questions about missing Peter. She speaks with everyone that she can. Some of the locals are wary of her, some of them are pretty open. There are times when it could be thought that Tuva's methods are a little manipulative of people who are scared and worried about what's happening in their small town. 

With something of a slow start, Ice Town soon turns into a story that is pacy and incredibly tense in places. Dean's ability to draw the town, both the surrounding environment and the eclectic mix of residents is top class. There are characters that the reader will immediately suspect, there are also some that seem to fly under the radar, but who will become so pivotal in the story. It's astonishing. 

There are plenty of deaths, plenty of suspicion. There's snow and blizzards, there's unexpected, dangerous journeys that Tuva must survive. Whilst Tuva is a strong, independent woman, she also has vulnerabilities. Events in her life have formed her character and there have been some very important relationships that Tuva often reflects on. There's sometimes a real sadness about her, it makes her so realistic and the reader cannot help but really love her and hope that her future is going to be brighter. 

Chilling, compelling, full of unexpected events that really shook me at times. This is fine crime writing with characters who fill up the pages in a setting that is beautifully portrayed. Highly recommended. 

Will Dean grew up in the East Midlands, living in nine different villages before the age of eighteen. 

After studying law at the LSE, and working many varied jobs in London, he settled in rural Sweden with his wife. 

He built a wooden house in a boggy forest clearing and it's from this base that he compulsively reads and writes.

X @willrdean