The Girl in the Eagle’s Talons - Karin Smirnoff translated by Sarah Death

 

Some years ago my mother died. She died peacefully in her sleep. On the bed beside her was a copy of The Girl Who Played With Fire. She had noted the place she’d reached with a bookmark. For some strange reason, I felt compelled to finish reading the book for her. I thought it would please her, so I did.  I had no preconceptions about the book. But, oh my, I got hooked. I was then hungry to read the entire trilogy!  And somehow in that time of deep and intense grief Lisbeth Salander was just the character I needed to give me the strength to deal with my loss. And ever, since then Lisbeth has been one of my literary heroines. I devoured the three books that David Lagercrantz wrote after Stieg Larsson‘s premature demise. I was delighted to learn that the next three books would be written by a female author. I was even more delighted to snaffle a proof from the wonderful MacLehose Press. And once I held a copy in my greedy little hands, I couldn’t put it down.

I’m not going to give away anything of the plot, Suffice to say it’s a good one! Devotees of the series will not be disappointed. And I think it works as a standalone for people who have not read the previous books. Of course it helps to know Lisbeth’s history because you can understand her better. But I found we have a more mature, maybe even slightly mellower Lisbeth, but only slightly though! She’s still kicking butt like nobody else. And we have an older Mikael Blomkvist dealing with the end of Millenium magazine as a print publication. Some other characters make a return, but I’m not going to divulge that. 

The action takes place in a northern Sweden, and we learn that Lisbeth has a niece whose mother has vanished without trace. The character of Svala is a new one but she is so clearly Lisbeth’s niece it made me chuckle. The dynamic between the two is wonderful. Karen Smirnoff has done such a good job.

The ghost of Stieg Larsson pervades the whole narrative. He’s even mentioned at one point. I felt him more keenly here than I did in David Lagercrantz’s books. It’s a complex plot that looks at conspiracies, greed and brutality. Larsson examined attitudes and violence towards women. Ms Smirnoff has taken up the mantle and continued this thematic exploration. 

The narrative sparkles along with detail and action striking a good balance. The complications that relationships bring are explored on several levels and serve to embellish the main thrust of the story surrounding the natural resources of that region and the criminal interventions that threaten to thwart the integrity of an initiative in the area of Gasskas.

It’s a thriller and it’s a mystery and it has some social comment. The translation is excellent, smooth and flowing, losing nothing, you feel, from the original Swedish. I can’t wait for the next instalment!