Financial journalist Mikael Blomkvist has just lost a libel case against a corrupt industrialist and faces a prison sentence. Henrik Vanger, the elderly patriarch of a powerful Swedish business dynasty, offers him an unusual job: to discover what happened to his grand-niece Harriet, who vanished from the family's island estate at Hedeby in 1966. Henrik is convinced a relative murdered her.
Blomkvist's investigation draws him into the Vangers' bitter feuds and past Nazi sympathies. He eventually recruits Lisbeth Salander, a tattooed, socially withdrawn researcher and expert hacker who has suffered abuse at the hands of the state guardianship system. Together they uncover a pattern of violence far wider than one disappearance.
Larsson, a journalist who campaigned against far-right extremism, died before the book appeared, and it became a worldwide sensation that fuelled the Nordic noir boom. The original Swedish title translates as Men Who Hate Women, signalling its focus on violence against women. Salander became one of contemporary fiction's most recognisable characters, and the book won Scandinavia's Glass Key award.
Book details
| Author | Stieg Larsson |
|---|---|
| First published | 2005 |
| Original language | Swedish |
| Translated by | Reg Keeland |
| Genre | Thriller |
| Type | Fiction |
| Pages (approx.) | 465 |
| Setting | Stockholm and the fictional island of Hedeby, northern Sweden, early 2000s |
| Awards | Glass Key Award 2006 |
Themes
- Violence against women
- Corporate corruption
- Family secrets
- Justice
- Investigative journalism
Who should read it
Thriller readers who like dark, intricate mysteries and unforgettable antiheroes.