THE MAN WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE Stieg Larsson’s Lost Files and the Hunt for an Assassin by Jan Stocklassa

THE MAN WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE

Stieg Larsson’s Lost Files and the Hunt for an Assassin

by

Jan Stocklassa

            I was in a funk. I had finished the book I was reading, and nothing in my “to be read” pile appealed to me. I found The Man Who Played With Fire: Stieg Larsson’s Lost Files and the Hunt for an Assassin, by Jan Stocklassa, on my Kindle. I do not recall how it arrived there or how long it had been around; but, it turned out to be a perfect choice for me at that time.

            In 1986, Olof Palme, the prime minister of Sweden, was assassinated on a street in Stockholm. Despite extensive investigations, his murder has not been resolved. In fact, there remains a substantial reward for solving the murder. Stieg Larrson, the Swedish journalist best known for writing The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and the other Millennium Trilogy novels, did a great deal of investigation into right-wing extremism and the assassination of Palme. Jan Stocklassa found Larrson’s research and continued the investigation. The Man Who Played With Fire: Stieg Larsson’s Lost Files and the Hunt for an Assassin is the result of that investigation.

            Stocklassa’s book is well written and very interesting. At times I wondered if the Swedish police could really be so incompetent – or so corrupt. But it is not so simple. As the investigation into Palme’s assassination shows, the circumstances are complex and convoluted. I found Larrson’s initial investigation and Stocklassa’s subsequent investigation to be fascinating. And, the book certainly resolved my funk. I highly recommend The Man Who Played With Fire: Stieg Larsson’s Lost Files and the Hunt for an Assassin.