The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Mikael Blomkvist is an esteemed financial journalist, who has to silently watch his professional life rapidly crumble around him. His prospects are bleak until an old-school titan of Swedish industry unexpectedly offers to help clear his name, and repair his image. The catch is that Blomkvist must first spend a year researching the mysterious disappearance of a sixteen year old girl that has remained unsolved for nearly four decades. With few other options, he accepts and ends up enlisting the help of investigator Lisbeth Salander, a misunderstood genius with a photographic memory, and a strong animosity towards authority figures. She may be small and fragile looking, but you soon learn that you really do not want to mess with the girl with the dragon tattoo.

I really enjoyed this novel. Mikael Blomkvist is a steady, patient, peaceful, ethical man, and he is just what Lisbeth Salander needs in her life. Someone who accepts who she is without question, and who appreciates the uniqueness that she brings. Everyone in her life has discounted her, and most people are unwilling to recognize that she is a true genius. It takes Blomkvist, with his easy going attitude, to slowly chip through her wall of defences and find the sensitive girl inside. Not that Salander isn't a girl that can handle herself. When confronted with a sadistic parole officer she quickly takes action, and assumes control of the situation. Lisbeth Salander is no one to mess with, and I quickly grew to love this gutsy girl with the dragon tattoo.

The mystery in the center of the story is compelling, and gripping, keeping you on the edge throughout. The disappearance of Harriet Vanger has been unexplained for over forty years, a locked room mystery, and as that story unfolds, a search for a serial killer who has been at work for all those years also swings into motion. And as if two mysteries were not enough, Blomkvist and Salander still have to repair Blomkvist's name and reputation before the story ends.

The end of the story tends to drag a little with the storyline about reinstating Blomkvist as a professional journalist, and the repairing of his reputation. It seems more of a tacked on finale to tie up any loose ends, and does not have the wit and impact of the rest of the story. By this time you know that Blomkvist and Salander work well together, and that straightening out his earlier legal issues does not require as many pages as were used. The end just doesn't live up to the rest of the book, but all in all it was still a satisfying read, particularly on a frosty winter evening, when you could almost imagine the chill of a long cold Swedish night, as you bundle up tightly on the sofa under a blanket shivering from the cold, or is it from the fear of a serial killer in your own home?