The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Forty years ago, Harriet Vanger disappeared from a family gathering on the island owned and inhabited by the powerful Vanger clan. Her body was never found, yet her uncle is convinced it was murder – and that the killer is a member of his own tightly knit but dysfunctional family.He employs disgraced financial journalist Mikael Blomkvist and the tattooed, truculent computer hacker Lisbeth Salander to investigate. When the pair link Harriet’s disappearance to a number of grotesque murders from forty years ago, they begin to unravel a dark and appalling family history. But the Vangers are a secretive clan, and Blomkvist and Salander are about to find out just how far they are prepared to go to protect themselves.

Group Comments:

Discussion of the book revealed that not everyone could tolerate the dark sides of the story or the language used, but all agreed that is was a hard book to put down.

The main character was Mikael Blomkvist, a financial journalist waiting to do a jail sentence for libel. He was hired by a wealthy industrialist to find out the truth about his niece’s disappearance many years earlier.

The young woman who was hired to do his research was Lisbeth Salander, a ward of the Court, who was also a brilliant computer hacker with a photographic memory, and many tattoos.

Much discussion was held as to which of the characters had the most significant part in the development of the plot. Mikael’s journalistic integrity, Lisbeth’s personal standards, and the violence against women which was demonstrated by several characters, all came under review.

We felt the complicated plot unraveled satisfactorily, but on a sad note for Lisbeth.

Several readers look forward to borrowing the next title in the series.