New Zealand’s stunning South Island and the remote Marlborough Sounds form the backdrop for The Sounds, available now on DVD in the United States.

But, as any aficionado of Nordic noir will tell you, those inspiring vistas and seemingly innocent far away communities have dark secrets.

This is what Maggie Cabbot (Rachel Lefevre) discovers when she moves from Canada to the quiet coastal town of Pelorus – which sounds a lot like perilous. She and her husband Tom (Matt Whelan) are relocating to the town to escape his overbearing father. The plan is to set up a salmon farm and Tom is already there laying down the groundwork when Maggie arrives.

Things soon start to go wrong. To begin with Tom hasn’t kept his promises and some loose ends haven’t been tied up. Luckily, though, he seems to have got the local community on side… or has he?

The morning after the big deal-signing ceremony, Tom goes out on his kayak and fails to return. Local cop Jack McGregor (Matt Noble) organises a search which turns up nothing, at first. Then, Maggie begins to make new discoveries about her husband while at the same time some of the town’s long-buried secrets start coming to light.

This eight-episode series, written by novelist Sarah-Kate Lynch, is available now on DVD in North America at $30. Click here to buy.