Recently I read the first two Stieg Larsson detective novels. I had to wait weeks for each one at my local library because the waiting list was pretty long.

I believe one reason these novels are so popular is the female protagonist. Mr. Larsson created a very engaging and unusual female character, Lisbeth. I admit I liked her much better than the male protagonist. What makes her so interesting? I feel the whole constellation of traits, particularly her intelligence combined with her anti-social behavior (bordering on Asperger’s syndrome). Some people debate whether a man can create an accurate female character or a woman an accurate male character. I feel Larsson has done an excellent job with Lisbeth. Lisbeth may not be a “girly girl”, but she is believable as a female character. One aspect Larsson gets right is Lisbeth’s emotional involvement with people in her life. In contrast, his male protagonist (Blomkvist) often seems disconnected with people around him.

I am still waiting for the third book (another long long list of readers). Interest in reading these books is still amazingly strong. I was motivated to read the first book after observing a woman buying five copies of the first book at a large  (to be unnamed) book store.

The saddest part of the story is that Stieg Larsson is no longer with us to keep the story going. I can only imagine what other fantastic books he’d had written if he’d had time.