Books 8 and 9: "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" and "The Girl Who Played with Fire" by Steig Larsson

It's odd how I seem to inadvertantly read books one right after another that have major aspects in common.... The commonality this time lies with the authors. Having just read the dense and complex "Confederacy of Dunces," I was looking for a different, perhaps lighter, reading experience. I had seen a review of Steig Larsson's books, so opted to pick up his first of this trilogy, "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo." Larsson, a Swedish journalist and crusader against racism and right-wing extremism, was another who died prematurely young (although not by his own hand, like Toole), and whose work was published posthumously. All three books have been translated from the original Swedish, and have been best-sellers.

"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" was a wonderful read: a suspenseful and gripping mystery/detective story with a cast of extraordinary characters. The "Girl" is 23-year-old Lisbeth Salander, although the story herein is not exactly her story. Mikael Blomkvist is a disgraced journalist who is approached by octogenarian Henrik Vanger to look into the disappearance and presumed murder of his great-niece Harriet, who vanished some 40 years ago at the age of 16. In the course of his investigation, he encounters and then collaborates with investigator Lisbeth Salander, a young woman with remarkable computer skills and extremely poor social skills. As the story progresses, we are given glimpses into Lisbeth's life, past and present, explaining to some degree who and what she is, but never garnering the full picture.

Blomkvist and Salanger are not only successful in unraveling the mystery of Harriet Vanger, navigating through the unpleasantness of the extended Vanger family, but in solving a few other puzzles as well.

The second book, "The Girl Who Played with Fire," continues to intriguingly unfold the character of Lisbeth Salander, and involves her in an investigation, along with Blomkvist again, into human trafficking and the sex trade. Lisbeth finds herself accused of a triple murder, and vanishes to avoid being arrested and charged. Blomkvist fights to clear her, and in doing so, uncovers the truth of Lisbeth's horrifying past.

I found these two books absolutely riveting, devouring the first one over the course of one drizmal Sunday. I am really looking forward to the third, "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest."