‘Bad Apples’ by Will Dean | @willrdean @PointBlankCrime @margotbookpr | #TeamTuva #recommended

Author : Will Dean
Title : Bad Apples
Series : Tuva Moodyson #4
Pages : 430
Publisher : Point Blank
Publication date : October 7, 2021

| ABOUT THE BOOK |

It only takes one…

A murder

A resident of small-town Visberg is found decapitated

A festival

A cultish hilltop community ‘celebrates’ Pan Night after the apple harvest

A race against time

As Visberg closes ranks to keep its deadly secrets, there could not be a worse time for Tuva Moodyson to arrive as deputy editor of the local newspaper. Powerful forces are at play and no one dares speak out. But Tuva senses the story of her career, unaware that perhaps she is the story…

| MY THOUGHTS |

Welcome to Creepyville! I mean, Visberg. Honestly, if you thought the residents of Gavrid were a tad on the weird side, you’ve seen nothing yet!

Tuva has been promoted to deputy editor of the local newspaper and the small hilltop community of Visberg is part of her new beat. But the residents of this rather cultish village aren’t exactly the most welcoming people you’ll find. Especially not on a night they’ve dubbed “Pan Night”, a … well … celebration of sorts between the apple harvest and Halloween. It involves pans. Kind of. Hard to explain.

Before all of that though, a decapitated body is found in the woods. Pretty gruesome. Could it have been a hunting accident gone wrong? A tree felling accident gone wrong? Something else that involves swinging a chainsaw around in the middle of a forest? All will be revealed in time. Some of it on that most mysterious of nights called Pan Night. I don’t even know where to begin to describe Pan Night. Think of the most outrageously eccentric things you’ve ever seen and multiply to infinity. My head was entirely blown and my face has had the world’s most intensive facial exercises as I went from sheer disbelief to utter disgust and back again. Pretty sure none of this is mentioned in the Swedish tourist brochures.

In the middle of all this creepiness, one must obviously solve a murder. And Tuva has to find a way to get these residents to trust her and confide in her so she has stories to write for the newspaper. That isn’t as easy as it sounds. There are many secrets lurking behind the facades of this town, many loyal residents willing to protect those secrets, no matter what. Luckily, Tuva is as fierce and determined as she’s always been but could she be putting her apples in the wrong basket? (see what I did there? 😏)

There are new characters to get used to but a few of the old ones also make an appearance, including our favourite twisted Gavrid sisters. It all makes this fourth book feel ever so refreshing. If you’re new to the series, you should be okay to start here and treat this book as a stand-alone, although why you would want to I don’t know because you’re missing out. If, like me, you’ve been with this series from the start, there is so much to enjoy about this story. Tuva’s world may have grown bigger but that sense of claustrophobia and isolation remains and it’s one of my favourite things.

‘Bad Apples‘ is dark and twisted and honestly takes creepy to a whole new level. There are certain things that make me incredibly squeamish and I couldn’t believe how terribly lucky I was that Will Dean has opted to put that into this story. (Note the sarcasm.) Believe me, if this “thing” happens to be a phobia of yours, I’m sorry to say you’re totally screwed. Full of mystery, suspects, and the smell of rotten apples, ‘Bad Apples‘ is a fantastic addition to the series and dare I say the best one yet. I’m convinced Visberg still has so much more to offer too.

To top it all off, Will Dean leaves the reader wanting more in the best way possible. This isn’t just a cliffhanger, people. This is more like dangling from a rope in space and it’s just … mean! That’s all I’ll say. Well, that and if I could have book 5 tomorrow that’d be grand because I might just die of anticipation.

Bad Apples is out tomorrow! Huge thanks to Margot at Point Blank for my review copy!

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