THE ÅRE MURDERS is a new Netflix crime series from Sweden (original title: Åremorden). It is based on a popular book series by Swedish author Viveca Sten, which has also been translated into English. This adaptation of the series works much better than I expected and the result is a dark and very engaging series for Netflix.
Once again, we have a story that takes place during Christmas, but it premieres at the beginning of the new year. This only applies to the first three episodes, as it covers the book that takes place during the holidays.
Stars: Amalia Holm, Carla Sehn, Kardo Razzazi
I have no idea why they didn't release those episodes in December and get people excited for more episodes to be released in February. Well, it doesn't take anything away from the series, which is great, so make sure I watched it. I watched all five episodes for this review.
Continue reading our review of The Åre Murder season 1 below. Find it on Netflix starting February 6, 2025.
In The Åre Murders, we follow police officer Hanna Ahlander (Carla Sehn) as she heads to Åre to relax. Plus, she's just been suspended from her job at the Stockholm police and dumped by her partner, so being able to move into her sister's holiday home in the small town of Åre was a welcome escape.
Of course, Hanna Ahlander can't stop being a police officer, so when a young girl goes missing in Åre, she gets involved. At first as a civilian, but then she contacts the local police and offers to transfer to this department for the season. Åre is a ski area, so it's the busiest during the winter.
The girl who went missing did so on the freezing cold Lucia night, a Christian holiday celebrated in mid-December mainly in Scandinavia (and other Nordic countries, as well as Italy). In Spanish, it’s called “Saint Lucy’s Day,” which seems wrong when it’s about a little girl named Lucia, but it is.
In any case, with an understaffed police station and a newborn baby at home, local police officer Daniel Lindskog (Kardo Razzazi) reluctantly accepts Hanna’s help. The two just don’t trust each other yet. Plus, they work in different ways, which makes for a rocky start.
This new Netflix series is based on two books by Swedish author Viveca Sten. Both are from the “The Åre Murders” series, and we start with “Hidden in Snow” before moving on to “Hidden in the Shadows.”
As already mentioned, Season 1 of The Åre Murders has five episodes. The first three cover the book “Hidden in Snow,” and the final two episodes are based on “Hidden in the Shadow.”
However, each book adaptation is pretty much the same length. This is because the first three episodes are shorter and the last two are quite a bit longer. Both cases (each book covers one case) are intriguing and worked really well.
Admittedly, I would have preferred each book to have five episodes.
I loved the series, but it gets pretty rushed. It feels like everything needs to be resolved so quickly that we miss out on a lot of details. Sure, the cases get solved, but you are left with a lot of questions. On the other hand, I guess that's also what true crime cases usually give: a few solid answers, but a lot more questions.
The cast of The Åre Murders is headed by Carla Sehn and Kardo Razzazi, who you might already recognise from other Scandinavian productions. Joining them are other familiar faces from big Scandinavian productions.
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