"One of the pleasures of The Living and the Dead in Winsford is the drip feed of vital information that hurtles you through its 471 pages..." The Times
A woman arrives in the village of Winsford on Exmoor. She has travelled a long way and chosen her secluded cottage carefully. Maria's sole intention is to outlive her beloved dog Castor. And to survive the torrent of memories that threaten to overwhelm her.
Weeks before, Maria and her husband Martin fled Stockholm for Morocco, where Martin planned to write an explosive novel; one that would reveal the truth behind dark events within his commune of writers decades before. But the couple never made it to their destination.
As Maria settles into her lonely new life, walking the wild, desolate moors, it becomes clear that Winsford isn't quite the sanctuary she thought it would be. While the long, dark evenings close in and the weather worsens, strange things begin to happen around her. But what terrible secrets is Maria guarding? And who is trying to find her?
PRAISE FOR THE LIVING AND THE DEAD IN WINSFORD
"No surprise to discover that this book won the Palle Rosencrantz Prize for best thriller of the year" Literary Review
"A tense, psychological exploration of betrayal and revenge, deservedly winning the Rosenkrantz Award for Best Thriller of the Year in 2013." Sydney Morning Herald
Industry Reviews
A haunting, masterly unravelling of a dreadful crime, in The Living and the Dead in Winsford, Hakan Nesser, the bestselling, award-winning author of the Van Veeteren series, tightens the tension like a noose . . . * fantasticfiction.co.uk * The book is part thriller but also reads like literary fiction. This is no surprise as Nesser is an excellent writer . . . A great read * Crimepieces.com * A tense, psychological exploration of betrayal and revenge, deservedly winning the Rosenkrantz Award for Best Thriller of the Year in 2013.' * Sydney Morning Herald * The smooth, silky prose holds the reader's attention from start to finish, and it's no surprise to discover that this book won the Palle Rosencrantz Prize for best thriller of the year * Literary Review * One of the pleasures of The Living and the Dead in Winsford is the drip feed of vital information that hurtles you through its 471 pages as it probes deeper into its heroine's demons.
Nesser lives in Gotland but spends part of each year in the UK and he obviously knows his Winsford - and better still his Exmoor. The claustrophobia and comfort of village life, the terror of darkness on an exposed and desolate landscape; proximity with a natural world as beautiful as it is harsh: every detail seems etched into Nesser's viscerally descriptive writing.
. . . A ripping yarn * The Times *
