The Girl Who Enjoyed A Good Crime Story

I know I said I "wasn't that into it", but The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo really hooked me about halfway through the book. I read to the end without stopping, which is exactly what a good crime/suspense/mystery novel should inspire, so I'm going to reverse my previous judgment. You might want to pick this one up if you haven't already.

An import penned by the late Swedish journalist Stieg Larsson, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was the first in an intended "Millenium-series". Larsson completed a trilogy of books before his death: Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest, which is not yet available here in the US but will be released in May. The books have been hugely successful worldwide and it's not hard to imagine why Larsson's novels have become so successful here, too, amidst a crime television boom in primetime. Described as "a blast of cold, fresh air", The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo provides something familiar, but remains fresh enough to be set apart from the pack.

Our main protagonists, who eventually team up to solve a crime or two, are Mikel Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander. The former is a journalist recently disgraced with a libel conviction which throws the future of the magazine he co-owns into question, and the latter is a tough, prickly and emotionally distant young woman whose pierced and tattooed appearance leaves an unusual first impression. She digs up dirt on people, including him, and he digs up dirt on people too. Blomkvist's skills and his situation eventually get him noticed by a man named Henrik Vanger of the noted Vanger Corporation, and Vanger asks him to find out what happened in an unsolved crime from several decades ago involving his beloved niece Harriet. Vanger cannot let it go, and sends Blomkvist on a quest to unearth his family and company's dark secrets in the hopes that an answer still may be found.

Blomkvist goes through a number of love interests and many potential suspects within the family are introduced, but the novel really picks up speed later when several complex threads of the Vanger case are developed (is there more than just one crime going on here?) and Salander's considerable skills and prickly nature are matched with Blomkvist's focus. All told he's a bit dull to center a novel around, but the occasional POV from Salander is refreshing. She's a fascinating and complex, unorthodox character who acts as an excellent foil to Blomkvist as the search for a killer heats up. The mystery is ultimately rich and thought-provoking, and as you finish you will want to pick up the next book.