Stieg Larsson - The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Reviewed on show by Malcolm on 19th Nov.
This is the first of three novels that make up the Millennium Trilogy by this Swedish author – Swedish title: Men who hate women! Tragically he died before completing the further seven books of the series. He was one of the world's leading experts on antidemocratic, right wing extremist and Nazi organisations. Initial suspicions of foul play were discounted after natural causes were established as the reason for his death. In the book he refers to Val MacDermid’s Mermaids Singing and I suspect ideas for some of his clues originated in her writing. It’s a real who dunnit akin to Ian Rankin and John le Carré amongst others.

The story begins with a prologue which describes how an 82-year-old receives a framed pressed flower on his birthday as usual. This little ritual had been begun many years ago by his niece Harriet. But she disappeared when she was 16 in unresolved circumstances 40 years previously yet the flowers continue to arrive!

Mikael Blomkvist is an investigative journalist who also publishes, Millennium, an anti-right wing magazine – hence the Millennium Trilogy. The main story begins with him being convicted of libel agains a financial wheeler dealer called Wennerstrom who has made millions out of dodgy East Bloc investments. Wennerstrom is a crook but unfortunately Mikael was set up with false information and publishes a libellous story for which he receives a 3 month prison sentence. Unlike here in the UK he goes home in a hail of adverse publicity to await notification of when and where his sentence will begin.

Meanwhile Dragan Armansky who runs a security company is asked by millionaire industrial dynast Henrick Vanger to find him a researcher to write the family history as a cover – but in reality to try to establish the fate of his lost niece Harriet. Armansky has also been asked by a lawyer friend to try out a his guardian, a bright girl Lisbeth Salander as an IT worker. This is the girl with the dragon tattoo but she is seriously socially dysfunctional, apparently suffering from a form of autism. But she always delivers her tasks on time, makes mincemeat of the companies IT security and establishes herself as a reliable if unorthodox worker. She investigates Mikael and sends in her report – Henrick employs him for a year to investigate the disappearance of his niece 16 year old Harriet Vanger. Mikael also resigns as a partner in the magazine he publishes jointly with his part time lover – amidst much staff acrimony.

Mikael travels north from Stokholm to remote Hedestat and the attached Hedeby Island where the remnants of the bizarre Vanger dynasty still live – some of whom have a murky past with involvement of the Swedish Nazi party. Henrick installs him in a cottage and he begins to explore the island while Henrick sends over all the documents he has collected about Harriet’s disappearance. Mikael has been sworn to secrecy and asked not to tell other family members of his real reason for being there – but they all soon guess and meets with some hostility from them, and he compromises himself by briefly becoming the lover of another of Henrick’s nieces Cecelia Vanger. He makes a few discoveries but concentrates on photographic evidence from the day Harriet disappeared, a childrens parade day in 1966 – overshadowed by a road accident on the bridge joining Hedeby to Hedestad – the island is isolated until the vehicles are removed – but Harriet vanishes without trace. Mikael searches the photographs from local papers and any onlookers looking for evidence of either Harriet or her murderer – but all he can find is other family members!

He also finds some notes in Harriet’s diary – a list of names or initials with a string of numbers after them – with no idea what they mean he pins the list up in his kitchen. Their importance is revealed when his daughter on a spontaneous visit en route to a Christian conference she has become involved in asks him why he has a list references to Leviticus. The references give accounts of what will befall women who are unfaithful – and more - and Mikael realises he has a list of potential murder victims and the way in which they were killed. He requests additional help from Henrick to investigate disappearances of women over the last few decades and Henricks lawyer suggests Lisbeth Salander – computer hacker extraordinaire.

Well inevitably Mikael and Lisbeth become lovers, solve the list of murders, identify the Vanger throwback and women hater that killed them all, and locate a torture chamber on the island where many have suffered and died. Together they solve the disappearance of Harriet, expose the rogue financier Wannestrom as a fraudster and re-establish the Millennium magazine publishing partnership.

I felt it was a bit slow moving to begin with but after I got used to the rather dry translation, the Swedish names and past all the complex financial affairs that start the novel the pace quickened and I couldn’t put the book down – I’m looking forward to reading the next two in the series “The Girl Who Played with Fire” and “The Girl who Kicked the Hornets Nest”.
Reviewed by: Malcolm Martland 19 November 2009