The Whispering Sea Mysteries Books in Order

The Whispering Sea Mysteries introduces a younger audience to the islands that have shaped much of Viveca Sten's work. Co written with her daughter Camilla Sten, the series is aimed at readers around middle school age and blends mystery, fantasy, and coming of age story in the Stockholm archipelago.

In the first book, The Secrets Below, twelve year old Tuva lives on the small island of Harö. She loves her home but often feels like an outsider at her tiny school, until a new boy, Rasmus, arrives and a shared secret pulls them together. After a classmate disappears in the woods near the shore, Tuva and Rasmus realise that what they saw that day does not fit any ordinary explanation.

At the same time, people from neighboring islands have been vanishing from their boats, swallowed by the dark water without a trace. Rumors of something uncanny moving beneath the surface start to spread, and Tuva must decide whether to trust her instincts or dismiss them as imagination. The mystery grows from whispers and half remembered stories into a very real threat to the community.

As in the Sandhamn books, the setting is more than just a backdrop. The rocky beaches, pine forests, shifting weather, and long nights of autumn give the story a quietly eerie tone without tipping into outright horror. Everyday details of island life, from school projects to ferry timetables, keep the characters grounded even as strange things begin to happen around them.

The focus stays firmly on Tuva and her relationships, especially her tentative friendship with Rasmus and her place in a close but sometimes unforgiving community. Themes of bullying, loneliness, courage, and telling the truth when adults do not want to hear it run alongside the supernatural thread, making the books as much about growing up as about solving a mystery.

Taken together, the Whispering Sea stories offer younger readers a way into Sten's world of islands and secrets at a slightly gentler pitch than her adult crime novels. Expect tense but age appropriate adventures where the sea is full of whispers, every cove might hide a clue, and ordinary kids are the ones who have to decide what to do when something ancient stirs in the deep.