The man who played with fire Stieg Larsson's lost files and the hunt for an assassin

Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

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. (Oct.)

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

---

Review by Library Journal Review

On February 28, 1986, Sweden's prime minister, Olaf Palme, was assassinated on Stockholm streets following a theater trip with his wife. The perpetrator is still unknown to this day. Intrigued by the case, the late author Stieg Larsson ("Millennium" series) researched the crime and potential suspects until his death in 2004. At that time, he had amassed an archive of materials, which provide the content and substance of this book by former Swedish diplomat Stocklassa. Having gained exclusive access to Larsson's trove of research, Stocklassa presents an in-depth look into the investigation. Based on the findings, Swedish police now have a suspect for the first time in years. This well-crafted whodunit will keep readers engaged from start to finish. VERDICT Recommended for most true crime collections. This story is sure to gain international traction as the investigation into the Palme assassination heats up again.--Mattie Cook, Flat River Community Lib., MI

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

---

Review by Kirkus Book Review

A dense examination of a notorious political assassination, as initially sleuthed by popular crime novelist Stieg Larsson.Swedish journalist Stocklassa's meandering book has a convoluted backstory, beginning with the author's access to the files of the Millennium trilogy author, who died in 2004. Prior to his literary career, Larsson was a prolific investigative journalist whose focus on the European extreme right led him to consider the unsolved 1986 assassination of Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme. "After five years of research," writes Stocklassa, "I found Stieg Larsson's forgotten archives and stepped into a world of people and events that felt like they came right out of one of Stieg's books." Larsson's correspondence and reportage, excerpted here, showed his distrust of official narratives, and he concluded that the chaotic initial investigation of Palme's murder focused on either a lone, disturbed perpetrator or a Turkish insurgent group. This explanation elided the more likely scenario of a connection to Sweden's far-right underground, in concert with South African security forces, who were irritated by Palme's stance against the apartheid regime. Stocklassa initially imagines Larsson's perspective on the increasingly opaque murder even as his literary career approached success right before his death: "A dream for many, but Stieg still wanted other things as well." Stocklassa eagerly reanimated Larsson's investigation, a pursuit that became "my obsession." His efforts are credible and commendable, and he was able to speak to shady figures in South Africa and elsewhere, but the narrative wanders away from the initial sourcing in Larsson's abandoned files. Stocklassa concludes with "a possible picture" of how the assassination occurred, "if, that is, Stieg's theory was right." However, he cannot fill in all the blanks, ruefully concluding, "like Stieg before me, I continue to tug on the strings that stick out from the ball of yarn that is the Palme assassination." In making up for speculation, Stocklassa relies on an overly detailed, verbose, often digressive style.A mostly engrossing but florid historical conspiracy, of most interest to Larsson fans. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

---