So here we are celebrating the Millenium (II)

The Girl who played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

In a nutshell: A couple is found shot in a Stockholm flat and Lisbeth Salander is accused of murder. We follow the investigations of the police, the journalists and those close to her to reveal the mystery and find those really responsable, and their relationship to the main protagonists.

The blurb: this second part of the Millenium trilogy is set around a year after its prequel, the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (read review here). We follow the investigations into the murders of a journalist/researcher couple, who were set to denounce the Swedish sex trafficking industry and incriminate high-placed public figures. Like the previous book, what caracterises volume II is the intricate weaving of many storylines around the central plot, namely the diappearance of Lisbeth Salander who is now public enemy number 1. We follow the investigations from several points of view, the various police officers involved, Mikael Blomkvist, journalist and friend of Salander's, the bad guys, Salander herself and so on. As the inquiries develop, we discover more about Salander's history and a story of corruption, violence and political deceit unfolds.

IMHO, this book more than lives up to volume 1. Again we are skillfully plunged into each character's world, following the revelations subtly and gradually as we shift from protagonist to protagonist (without it ever being obvious, as we are always in the third person) and are sucked into the world of media frenzy, political corruption and journalistic investigations. Unlike the prequel it is not a book that takes time to warm up and the suspense makes it very diffuclt to put down. Excellent, sophisticated, intelligent reading. Be warned though, volume 3 of this wonderful trilogy has yet to be translated into English, and GPF ends on a real cliff hanger.