The Man Who Played with Fire: Stieg Larsson’s Lost Files and the Hunt for an Assassin

Stieg Larsson (1954–2004), the author of the posthumously published The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and its two sequels, was known in his lifetime as an illustrator and journalist who campaigned vigorously against Sweden’s extreme right-wing associations. He meticulously researched the unsolved 1986 assassination of Olaf Palme, the country’s prime minister. (Much of Larsson’s research on the assassination and right-wing groups is reflected in his novels.) Decades later, journalist Stocklassa’s debut tries to identify the killer using Larsson’s extensive notes in this engrossing account. The author details his globe-hopping search for the assassin, as the investigation swings from theories of a lone gunman to a vast South African right-wing conspiracy with ties to the Iran-Contra affair. After searching for eight years, including the interrogation of a suspect and consideration of a third party’s offer to illegally detain that suspect, Stocklassa thinks he has the answer to who killed the prime minister and why. He has passed information onto the authorities, who are acting on it, and he agrees with the new prosecutor in charge that the Palme case will be solved. Larsson buffs won’t want to miss this one. [em](Oct.) [/em]