The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Book 1 of 3, called “The Millenium Trilogy,” by Stieg Larsson

I finally managed to get my hands on this year’s most talked about thriller last Thursday. I was travelling to Dubai that evening, visiting a friend and hoping to take advantage of the sales. Need I say I spent most of my free time reading and almost missed out on a great pair of shoes and my new favourite handbag? A page turner to say the least, Stieg Larsson’s master piece kept me on edge throughout my trip.
The story is that of Mikael Blomkvist, a financial journalist and publisher of a struggling magazine called Millennium which has become known for its attacks on high-level swindlers. After losing a trial against financial giant Wennerstorm and being accused of libel, Mikael is asked by aging industrialist Henrik Vanger, the former head of the Vanger Corporation to move to the family estate on Hedeby Island and find out who in the family presumably murdered Vanger’s beloved teenage niece, Harriet, on a chaotic day some 36 years ago; With a great number of the Vangers gathered together on the island, a car crashes head-on with an oil truck on the bridge connecting Hedeby to the mainland. Sometime that day Harriet vanishes. Having no way to cross to the mainland it is those who were trapped on the island that make up the suspect list, making this a “locked-room mystery”.
Mikael is soon joined by the “girl” in the title, 24-year-old Lisbeth Salander –- who is the most interesting of Larsson’s universe of characters. A pale, thin young woman with many tattoos and a pierced nose and eyebrows. Together they work on figuring out what really happened to Harriet. Their relationship evolves into a more intimate one as they get closer to the truth.
The book tackles important themes such as violence against women, the incompetence of investigative journalists, the moral bankruptcy of big capital and the virulent strain of Nazism still festering away beneath all that shiny Swedish fairness.
While all the characters are not exactly multifaceted, and you don’t always get an explanation for their behaviour, Larsson’s plot is skilful, and his writing is elegant and practical. Besides being highly entertaining 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' is informative on many a subject and you walk out feeling like you’ve learnt a few things.