Meurtres à Åre

This was a very watchable series. It's a much darker scenario than many others of Viveca Sten's novels or screenplays but still frothy enough not to be depressing.

Yes, there are cliches such as the maverick, suspended, female detective, a male cop whose home life is breaking down and a closeted gay guy but these are woven into the fabric of the story to make a coherent and easy-to-watch narrative.

The plots were fantastical at times with characters doing unexpected or downright dangerous things. A little too much intuition was used in the solving of the cases too. However, in the main, this was worth watching. I saw the lot over a couple of days and it filled in some time very enjoyably. I'd recommend it but don't expect "The Bridge" or "Forbrydelsen".

Cinematography and scenery is beautiful and lifts the crime series. We want to see more of this, maybe some episodes from the Norwegian border ? I live in Trondheim, Norway, and Åre is close to this city. Åre is the major alpine sports ski resort in Sweden and also popular place to visit by Norwegians. Åre is close to Norwegian border.

Now, about the series.

It is a more like a Crime Drama. The swedes are good at making "Dark Crime" TV series. The "Beck" crime series should serve as a benchmark for quality in the genre of crime series from Sweden. Despite financial backing from Netflix to create the series, it comes a bit short. Maybe I would expect it to be more scary and exciting. Instead, it feels a bit boring and drama oriented. Don't expect that much excitement in the series. There are some car chasing, but the overall script for possible future episodes of the series should focus more on less drama and more action.

As Episode 1 of "The Are Murders' (2025 release from Swe3den; 5 episodes ranging from 35 to 57 min) opens, 17 yo Amanda is at a house party in the remote town of Are, Sweden, and then leaves the party. In a parallel story that same evening, we are introduced to Hanna, of the Stockholm PD. Hanna has taken a two months' leave of absence and is driving towards the cabin of her sister's, in Are. Next morning, Amanda is missing... At this point we are less than 10 minutes into Episode 1.

Couple of comments: this TV mini-series is based on the Swedish book series "Hidden in Snow" (which covers the first 3 episodes) and "Hidden in Shadows" (which covers the last 2 episodes) by Viveva Sten. The connection between the two separate stories is Hanna, the Stockholm cop who shows up in Are looking to get away of whatever troubled her in the Swedish capital. The two stories are plot-heavy, so the less said of that, the better. I will simply say that I quite liked the first story "Hidden in Snow", and rate it 7/10. It does not prepare you for the second story "Hidden in Shadows", which absolutely blew me away, and which I rate 9/10, hence my overall rating of this mini-series of 8/10. The (for me no-names) cast is terrific throughout. "The Are Murders" is no-nonsense and gritty, and quite dark (in particular in the second story). I was hooked from start to finish. Now we hopefully await the further adventures of Hanna in the next book(s) from Ms. Sten...

"The Are Murders" started streaming on Netflix about a week ago, and I watched the 5 episodes over 2 evenings. The is currently rated 81% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, and there is ample reason for that. If you love a top-notch crime series set in Sweden, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

I agree with the other reviewers, the problem with the series is the script. The location is beautiful and it's nice to have a series not set in Stockholm or Malmo or.... In general I have no problem with the cast. Episodes 1-3 are one story, 4 & 5 a second story.

Hanna is a stereotype of a green detective who goes off on her own and doesn't take orders from her senior partner. She has maturing to do and admits that she should have waited and not gone alone. One would think after her recent Stockholm experience, that she'd look before she leaps.

I'm a big fan of the "Beck" series set in Stockholm, that series has a really good cast and superior scripts. This is not a Beck, but it's better than some other Swedish police procedurals..

I'm also a fan of "Sandhamn Murders" also from Viveca Sten mystery novels. Different cast, writers and different production companies. I'd like to see more Swedish crime dramas from Netflix.

I have watched all five episodes and enjoyed them.

They are based on a series of books by a very well known author, Viveca Sten.

There are two distinct stories here... so the first three eps are a complete "story" and then they are followed by two more which extend the characters a bit more.

These are good. I am a huge Scandi Noir fan and love series like this. I find the ones filmed in winter particularly interesting and enjoyable. The conditions are often awful and I just love how the characters move thru the weather like it is nothing special (which it isn't in Scandinavia).

The first story takes a bit of time to get started. By the point we get to the second story, we're familiar if not comfortable with the characters and can sit back and appreciate the plot.

BTW if you're wondering "why two stories?" this is not unusual for series like this. Go with it.

There's nothing super special here. It isn't Beck or Wallander or etc. But it is solid acting and good, engaging plots.

The two main characters (Carla and Kardo) have charisma and a certain *something* between them. And alas, in part this is the reason I'm giving this an 8 instead of a 9 or 10... I don't want to spoil anything but there are hints of something that I'd rather just be left out.

Alternatively, I liked the Charlie plot line in eps 4 and 5.

The other criticism, is, of course, that we see one of the characters doing stupid stuff that in reality I'm guessing the police would never do. But this is common throughout the genre in order to add danger to the plot. So I'm not going to criticize it too much.

So if you're a Scandi Noir fan, or even just a fan of a good detective series, I recommend this.

And as always I recommend watching it in the original language with subtitles. Seriously.

The plots are clever enough to keep you guessing, and yet this is fairly straightforward and dare I say simple storytelling. There's humor. There's drama. There's some intense stuff that gets scary.

Recommended.