Lisbeth Salander returns as the nonconformist heroine of The Girl Who Played with Fire (Knopf; $25.95) by the late Swedish author Stieg Larsson.

Lisbeth is a creative hacker who could qualify as a “cyberninja” now being recruited by the U. S. Pentagon to block computer attacks.

In the last pages of Larsson’s first volume, Lisbeth parlayed a clever arrangement that netted her a hefty sum of money. Therefore, she is not only savvy but rich and can function as she pleases. Although her personal background has never been clearly defined, it has left her with a score to settle.

Checking up on and tapping into the computer of Mikail Blomkvist, the journalist she had worked with and loved, Lisbeth discovers mention of a person who figured in her past in Mikail’s incoming e-mail regarding sex trafficking.

Off she goes to visit the sender of the e-mail. Her arrival and murder of the couple she is to visit dovetail. Police find only Salander’s prints on the weapon and she becomes suspect number one.

Incidentally, the gun will be traced to her guardian who is also found murdered; so she has to keep a very low profile – going undercover in her new apartment and devising various disguises.

The police seek a girl with a tattoo of a wasp on the right side of her neck. (Aha! it is no longer there.) “Nobody can go around without leaving traces, like some kind of ghost.” Little do they comprehend the craftiness of Lisbeth.

Reg Keeland’s translation keeps Larsson’s thrilling novel moving forward at a swift pace as Salander hunts down the demons in her life and in turn is pursued by police, Blomkvist and professional killers.

The saga of Lisbeth Salander to be continued…
 

The setting for The Darkest Room (Delta; $15.00) is a compelling factor in the chiller by Johan Theorin.

Eel Point on the Island of Öland off the coast of Sweden with its manor house, barn and twin lighthouses intrigues Joakim and Katrine. They are intent on leaving their renovated house in Stockholm and eager to restore the manor house that has special meaning for Katrine.

On the other side of Öland the Serelius brothers and buddy Henrik plan breaking and entering exploits.

At the manor house the excitement of moving into a new environment for Joakim, Katrine, daughter Livia and son Gabriel soon fades when Joakim receives word of a drowning at Eel Point as he returns from Stockholm. Tilda Davidsson, newly assigned local police officer, bears the brunt of telling Joakim that Katrine has drowned.
Tilda, who questions the “accidental” drowning and her great uncle Gerlof play important roles as the story unfolds.

Between chapters the backstory of people and happenings at the manor house is revealed from excerpts of a history written by artist Mirja Rambe, Katrine’s mother who lived at Eel Point with her artist mother.

After the tragedy Joakim spends more time at the house wallpapering and painting but at the same time he pokes around the barn. In one of his forays he finds a wall in the hayloft with carved names of those who died at Eel Point. He persists and tells Mirja: “There’s a hidden room here. A room without a door.”

Aside from the mysteries at Eel Point, thieves keep Tilda and fellow officers busy.

An award-winning storyteller, Theorin brings it all together at Christmastime with blizzard, thievery, murder, and in the darkest room a gathering of those who died at Eel Point.

The translation by Marlaine Delargy sustains Theorin’s gripping suspense and ghostlike essence for the reader’s enjoyment.
 

When Harry Hole of the Oslo Crime Squad looks in the mirror he sees: “Two bloodshot eyes, a network of fine blue veins in a pale bony face.” The Chief Superintendent sees Inspector Hole as “The alcoholic. The trouble maker. The ever-unbearable, arrogant bullhead. The best investigator” in the unit.

Jo Nesbo jump-starts Nemesis (Harper; $25.99) with a bank robbery. Inspector Hole views a video of the robbery and sees the fatal shooting of the bank teller. No forensic evidence will be found at the scene.

Next case: A woman is found dead in her apartment, an apartment that is familiar to Harry. Matter of fact, didn’t he visit her the night before when she showed him her work in progress named “Nemesis, the goddess of justice and vengeance.”

The portrait is of three men. Later, we learn that his partner Beate Lønn thinks the man in the center of the portrait could be Harry. He finds himself definitely linked to this supposed suicide. However, Harry knows she was left-handed; the weapon is in her right hand. Murder!

A further complication is that someone knows of Harry’s involvement. E-mail messages keep popping up: “… Let’s imagine you’ve been to dinner with a woman and the next day she’s found dead. What do you do?”

There is gypsy lore not to be overlooked in this police thriller. A well known bank robber in prison is the dead woman’s uncle – both gypsies. Skip reading is not recommended because Nesbo craftily includes in the narrative bits of information key to the solution.

If Don Bartlett’s translation provides a faithful rendition of Norway’s headline crime novelist, it is well done.  

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Reprinted from Border Patrol, IACW/NA newsletter
© 2010, used by permission