Les hommes qui n'aimaient pas les femmes

The mystery in this novel is not the most compelling. It's pretty predictable once all the main characters are introduced. But like all mysteries, what's most important are the characters. Blomqkvist, Salander, and especially the Blomqvist/Salander partnership make you want to keep reading. My favorite contemporary mystery writer is Elizabeth George, and this book shares many similarities with her work, especially grisly sex crimes and a detective partnership that crosses significant class and education boundaries (with the male partner the senior one and the one on the privileged side). Larsson's special appeal is his attack on corporate greed and his severely damaged champion of justice, Lisbeth Salander.