From The Sunday Times 
May 2, 2010
The real story behind Stieg Larsson and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Stieg Larsson did not live to see his book The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo become a global hit. Now his estate is worth millions and has led to a family feud, while conspiracy theories rage about his death
Story by Barry Forshaw

Right - Noomi Rapace stars as Lisbeth Salander in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the film adaptation of the book by Stieg Larsson.

At the prestigious Crime Writers’ Association Dagger awards in London’s Grosvenor House hotel in October 2008, there was a no-show. Where was Stieg Larsson? He had not appeared for a photo opportunity and the clock was ticking.






The Swedish author (pic left) had been nominated for his astonishingly successful debut novel, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which was on the point of becoming a worldwide phenomenon.
Larsson was dead — and had been for four years. Not everyone in the UK’s top organisation for crime writers knew that his nomination was posthumous. This was a measure of the unprecedented speed with which his star had risen.It has gone on rising. On a French beach last summer Mark Lawson, the critic, noted that “almost every sunbather of every nationality was reading one of Larsson’s novels in the numerous translations”. His three books, the Millennium trilogy, have been filmed in Sweden, and Hollywood is planning its own versions.
He died, aged 50, before any of the novels was published even in his native Sweden. Their posthumous success has created a legion of fans with a voracious appetite for any information concerning his life and his books. In particular, they want to know who inspired the cast of these gripping stories.
The full fascinating story at The Times.

© Barry Forshaw 2010 Extracted from The Man Who Left Too Soon by Barry Forshaw, published by John Blake Publishing at £17.99

Footnote:
Here at the wonderful Twin Palms Beach Resort in  Phuket, Thailand The Bookman has been keeping a close watch on what people are reading around the pool and down at the beach - James Patterson &; Lee Child titles have both been observed but the hands-down winner is Stieg Larsson with five copies of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo seen plus one each of the second and third titles in the Millenium Trilogy.I have also seen copies being read on all five flights I have been on so far on this trip. There is no question Stieg Larsson and his Millenium trilogy are a phenomenon. And I use that word advisedly.
As to my own reading I am on my fourth book in my holiday pile, Avalanche Pass by John A. Flanagan, antam, the second in the Jesse Parker Mystery series.Interestingly Flanagan is a Sydney-based writer  but this book is set at a ski resport in Utah.