Mikael Blomkvist is a well respected financial journalist, until he publishes a story about a high profile businessman without being able to name his source and ends up being charged and sentences for libel. Stepping down from his magazine he finds himself with a stretch of free time, so, when he is approached by a wealthy family (the Vangers) to explore the cold case of a missing family member who disappeared years earlier without a trace for a 1million kroner fee and information which can prove his previous claims, he takes the job.

Lisbeth Salandar is different; that is the best way I can describe her. She is a ward of the state not even allowed to manage her own finances, but she is exceptionally smart and has a skill with computers. She has a job as a private investigator for which she uses her discreet hacking skills to find information on individuals.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo tells the story of both individuals separately, until they are brought together to work on the case of the missing girl.

I first read Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy ahead of the English film release in 2011 and was bitterly disappointed when they didn’t continue the trilogy past the first film. Then, when I heard that a ghost writer was continuing with the series I was intrigued, however, I never got around to actually reading them. Now the pressure is on because the first film in the new series is due out in a few weeks (starring Claire Foy as Lisbeth Salandar) so I wanted to read them before I saw it. What I forgot was how difficult the books can be. They are translated from Swedish and have a totally different style of narration than I am used to. Therefore, it took me the better part of a month to finish this book.

Although I find them difficult to get into, I really enjoyed the story! It has so many twist and turns that I could remember the ending but not how it comes about. Therefore, even though I was reading it for the second time I was just as engaged as the first. I have accepted defeat I am not going to finish the books before the film but I’m definitely going to continue with them nonetheless!