Meurtres à Åre

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.