The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

When Mikael Blomkvist is found guilty for libel he knows his career will never be the same, so he is surprised when he is contacted by the lawyer of Henrik Vanger, the 82-year-old former CEO of the Vanger company, with a vague description of a job that Blomkvist must come to him to learn more about. When Blomkvist eventually gives in to his curiosity he is surprised to learn that Henrik wants to hire him for dual purposes: first, and publicly, to write the history of the Vanger family and second, to find out what happened to Harriet Vanger, Henrik's favorite neice, who had disappeared 40 years before. With a complicated, but entertaining, cast of characters we learn the stories that the Vanger's make public, and the secrets that they would kill to keep quiet. 

I know I have often written here that I sometimes have a hard time putting a book down when I'm really invested, but this book goes beyond that. My fiancé had to take the book away from me so I wouldn't read late into the night before having to be up early for work. And as soon as I got home I read until I finished because I needed to know what happened. But I didn't think I was going to like this book as much as I do when I first started reading. The first chapter was one of the most boring introductory chapters I have ever read. But as soon as the second chapter started the story started to get interesting and I was soon fully invested. 

My one issue with this book was how some of the mystery was revealed. For much of the book Stieg Larsson followed the mystery style of writing where, if you look hard enough, you can find the answers before the narrator manages to put the pieces together. That's the kind of mystery I love. I love seeing all the pieces of the puzzle snap into place (which is why Agatha Christie will forever be my favorite). But later in the book there were too many leaps in logic for me, as a reader, to see how all the pieces fit together. The story was still excellently written, just not in the style I prefer my mysteries to be written in.

And before you ask, I didn't realize I put the Large Print version of the book on hold at the library, but I definitely see the appeal of large print books, my eyes didn't get nearly as tired as I was reading as they do with average print sizes. 

Overall, if you are into mysteries and don't mind some violence and sex in your entertainment, I would definitely recommend this book. The story took numerous twists and turns that I never would have guessed at and it was a joy to be so surprised by a novel.

XO, Ellen