Searching for the next big 'Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'

The late Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy has created a huge appetite for Scandinavian murder mysteries, writes Julie Bosman in The New York Times, and a big problem for publishers

Scandinavian crime fiction is going through an unlikely renaissance, writes Julie Bosman in The New York Times. And it's all the fault of a "tattooed, secretive, bisexual computer hacker named Lisbeth Salander" — the heroine of Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and its two sequels), which has already sold more than 6 million copies in the U.S. alone. The author's 2004 death precludes any lucrative follow-up (though "an unfinished fourth manuscript" may change that) but publishers — and other bestselling authors — are desperately looking for new ways to deliver Larsson's "brand of Scandinavian mayhem." The staff at Powell's Books in Portland, Bosman reports tellingly, refer to Larsson's heroine as "The Girl Who’s Paying Our Salaries for the Next Few Months." An excerpt:

"Scandinavian writers who have had small but devoted followings are now seeing their books showcased alongside Mr. Larsson’s extraordinarily popular series. The intense interest in the Larsson books prompted the staff at Powell’s Books in Portland, Ore., to create a special section in the store for two dozen Scandinavian mysteries, by Karin Fossum, Jo Nesbo, Kjell Eriksson and Yrsa Sigurdardottir....

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us