A disgraced financial investigative journalist, Mikael Blomkvist, is hired by the former CEO of the Vanger Corporation to look into the disappearance of his niece, Harriet Vanger, in the 1960s. Vanger believes his niece was murdered, and has been trying to solve the mystery ever since. Not Blomkvist’s normal job, but it fills time as he tries to gather his forces against Wennerstrom, the source of his disgrace. Nobody expects him to find anything, but what he does find in his investigation, aided by the taciturn researcher/hacker, Lisbeth Salander, is beyond everyone’s expectations.
Originally written in Swedish, this English translation has been recommended by so many. It’s artfully put together; every time I thought I knew what would happen, the story would take another twist and just as I’ve abandoned my theory, it would be brought back as a possible. The complexity of the financial intrigue mixed with family drama and corporate survival sounds too much for one book, but it really flowed well. Besides those themes, the sections are title with economics terms followed by a statistic on violence towards women. In bringing that in, there are some scenes that are truly horrific but do advance the overall story. This is the first book in a trilogy and I look forward to the other books.
