Big books frighten me. This is due to the slowness of my reading and often the immense amount of padding hidden in the middle 50 pages. My personal theory is that it is all about publishers wanting to make bigger books for a higher price, or very bad editing. I digress. I had already attempted this book earlier in the year so it was with trepidation that I had another go. I loved it and read the last 50 pages in the ads last night, that's how engaged I was. I have a deep interest in books set in Scandinavian settings so there was an added layer of interest for me.
The story is about a journalist who works for a financial magazine and has just been done for libel by a very dodgy business man. Although importatnt to the plot, there is a giant family mystery waiting to be solved and another business man nabs the journalist to get invovled in solving this mystery while taking some time out from journalism for a while. There are tonnes of characters in the book and trying to remember them all is just not worth the worry. The important ones come to the fore, Lisbeth the odd but brilliant PI, Berger the journals and sometimes lover of Blomkvist, the entire mad Vanger family for which the whole story revolves around (and there are tonnes of them) and a range of other goodies and baddies.
Not a great revealing review, I know. The plot to me is less important than the enjoyment. The enjoyment is the great great writing, the clever twisting plot, complex and interesting characters, detail without too much detail and the setting. I highly recommend it for anyone who enjoys a mystery in the modern sense. Shame that Steig died after only writing three novels. The good thing is that the next one is out and that it is part of a Trilogy so my newly engaging 'friends' will be back and I can't wait to find out what happens next.
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