The Living and the Dead in Winsford
By (Author) Hkan Nesser
Translated by Laurie Thompson
Pan Macmillan
Pan Books
9th February 2016
11th February 2016
United Kingdom
General
Fiction
Fiction in translation
839.738
Paperback
480
Width 132mm, Height 197mm, Spine 31mm
338g
"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
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
Hkan Nesser is one of Sweden's most popular crime writers, receiving numerous awards for his novels featuring Inspector Van Veeteren, including the European Crime Fiction Star Award (Ripper Award), the Swedish Crime Writers' Academy Prize (three times) and Scandinavia's Glass Key Award. His Van Veeteren series is published in over twenty-five countries and has sold over 10 million copies worldwide. Hkan Nesser lives in Gotland with his wife, and spends part of each year in the UK. His other books include the popular Van Veeteren series and The Barbarotti series.