The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo question

Have you tried Jo Nesbo? He's written several crime novels, set in Scandinavia, very fast paced with interesting characters. The sort you can't put down until you've finished. One suggestion, read them in order, if you can, so you understand the backstory of the central character.

Try Camilla Lackberg.

I have read all of the Jo Nesbo books that are available in the US and am waiting for the Bat which is the first book and should be available shortly. I think they have some similarities to the Stieg Larsson books. Nesbo brings in the rest of the world in some of the books which Larsson also does. Many mysteries are very insular.

I also like the Camilla Lackberg books and have read the Wallander series and at least one of Mankell's other books.

I like books that include strong female characters and there are several series from the UK that includes them.

Another good series is Helene Tursten from Sweden with her police detective Irene Huss. I was surprised to find these books on an obscure cable channel MHz in Swedish with subtitles.

Thanks Mark, I had the exact same question in mind so I am pleased that you have already covered it for me!

Have you read the books by Lars Kepler,
"The Hypnotist"
"The Nightmare"
"The Fire Witness"

Excellent mystery psychological thrillers. I have read the first and the last new novel, and plan to get the 2nd one, as they are so great.

I have had this same feeling, Mark! Thank you for starting this thread! Now to go and research all the above-mentioned books and pick one... :)

Completely agree with Jo Nesbo recommendations. It is fine to start with "Redbreast" and go from that point. Not as critical to stay in sequence after the first three to five books in English, but I recommend at least the first three English books first.

I too went to Nesbo and the Wallender series after the Millennium series left me wishing for more. You also might like the novel that just won the Next Generation Indie Book Awards Grand Prize for fiction and was a finalist in Suspense/Thriller: Still Waters by yours truly, Sara Warner. It has a very strong female protagonist. See Halliday Smith's review on Goodreads and Amazon. And let me know what you find that suits you in your post-Salander blues. Happy reading!

Start with "The Keeper of Lost Causes" by Jussi Adler-Olsen.

I am a fan of Lars Keplar and liked their first two bks, with a third on the way next month.

I loved the girl series by stieg Larsson and I found a nother series by jo nesbo. the books are good a little bit edger but good just the same. start in order. the first book in the series comes out July 2.2013 , the bat. hope you enjoy the books.

I haven't finished it yet but am loving In the Woods by Tana French. The characterisation is amazing, it's a great crime novel with a lot of mystery. The writing style is amazing and laugh-out-loud funny in parts! I loved the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - In the Woods is the only other crime/mystery book I've read recently that I'd put in the same category of brilliance.

i am surprised that no-one has mentioned what must be the best comparison. btw, being set in Sweden is irrelevant to the storyline/s, characters, and writing. so that is complete Swedish red herring.

I refer to the 'Kathy Mallory' serries by Carol O'Connor.

Uncanny or deliberate similarities. and this time you get your 10 book series plus.

almost every book moved me to tears in parts.

I accidently started in the middle of series with Stone Angel, and what a great and moving book it is, and it didn't hurt to start with it at all. one of the best of best in the series.

Agree w/JDK1962 that The Snowman was average (at best) and, really, ho-hum throughout. Yet, I have enjoyed most of Nesbo's work aside from The Snowman.

I am pilgrim! Possibly my favourite crime novel ever, and nice and chunky to keep you going for a good amount of time :)

everyone recomend jo nesbo. i have one in my bookshelf and still nicely wrapped.. maybe i'll try read it after i finish my fantasy book

Mark wrote: "I really enjoyed this series but am having trouble finding like books. "The Blue Place" was recommended, the book started out well but fell flat. I think it was recommended just because it had a le..."

The book blew, I need books not like this.

It is tough to find anything comparable. Lisbeth Salander is one of my favorite characters, all-time.

Aside from gobbling up her performance in the Millennium series, I have a creative attachment to it. Lisbeth influenced Adelaide in my novel, just out on Kindle and Nook and soon in paper. I had Adelaide developing Asperger-ish traits when I read "Dragoon Tattoo" and I knew Adelaide had to go another way. (Another another way is that Adelaide is, and always was, straight.) Adelaide benefited and grew into a very distinctive and (I think) terrific lead character.

Bad enough the title is "The Girl in the Coyote Coat", but I did have that before I heard of Larsson.

after i finished the girl with dragon tattoo series i really enjoyed series by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, he wrote
The Shadow of the Wind series

Mark wrote: "I really enjoyed this series but am having trouble finding like books. "The Blue Place" was recommended, the book started out well but fell flat. I think it was recommended just because it had a le..."

I really enjoyed the "Girl" series as well. I stumbled across another series that I am really enjoying. Completely different genre than the "Girl" books. But I'm really enjoying them. Just started the third in the series. The fourth one comes out in a few months. The first in the series is The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Potzsch. Not the kind of thing I would normally read. In fact, I usually read very little fiction. But these are kind of fun. They take place in 17th century Bavaria. Let me know what you think.

Hey Mark! had the same problem, couldn't read for quite some time after completing the Millennium series. It is difficult to read about characters weaker than Lisbeth Salander. I think it would be easier to suggest other books if you could be more specific about exactly what you loved about the book & what you could have done without......whether it was the setting, the writing style, the characters, the actual mystery, conspiracy theories, cold cases....etc.

Try this one, I loved it, very suspenseful and fast moving. Here is the blurb from Goodreads about the book.

The Hypnotist (Joona Linna #1)_-Lars Keplar


In the frigid clime of Tumba, Sweden, a gruesome triple homicide attracts the interest of Detective Inspector Joona Linna, who demands to investigate the murders. The killer is still at large, and there’s only one surviving witness—the boy whose family was killed before his eyes. Whoever committed the crimes wanted this boy to die: he’s suffered more than one hundred knife wounds and lapsed into a state of shock. Desperate for information, Linna sees only one option: hypnotism. He enlists Dr. Erik Maria Bark to mesmerize the boy, hoping to discover the killer through his eyes.

It’s the sort of work that Bark has sworn he would never do again—ethically dubious and psychically scarring. When he breaks his promise and hypnotizes the victim, a long and terrifying chain of events begins to unfurl.

An international sensation, The Hypnotist is set to appear in thirty-seven countries, and it has landed at the top of bestseller lists wherever it’s been published—in France, Holland, Germany, Spain, Italy, Denmark. Now it’s America’s turn. Combining the addictive power of the Stieg Larsson trilogy with the storytelling drive of The Silence of the Lambs, this adrenaline-drenched thriller is spellbinding from its very first page.

James Thompson - he is an american living in Finland - first book in the series is Snow Angels

also - come and check out the Nordic Noir group here on GR - we do a featured NN author each month - so you can discover a bunch of new ones ;)

Mark wrote: "I really enjoyed this series but am having trouble finding like books. "The Blue Place" was recommended, the book started out well but fell flat. I think it was recommended just because it had a le..."

I felt the same way after reading the trilogy. Try Burn or Kiss by Erin Healy and Ted Dekker.

Available Dark by Elizabeth Hand. Very dark, very tight writing and her heroine Cass(andra) Nealy is every bit as sharp if not sharper than Lisbeth Salander.

I enjoyed Jar City and Hypothermia by Arnaldur Indridason. Crime novels are set in Iceland and not as dark as the Millenium series.

did you try the Kurt Wallender series by Henning Mankell. There are 10 or 11 books in the series be sure to start with the first one

I haven't read it yet, but you might want to try The Hypnotist Lars Kepler, it's written by a husband and wife crime writing team modeled after Stieg Larsson's work.

I have to say that I found both The Snowman and The Keeper of Lost Causes to be utterly average procedurals. Neither left me wanting to proceed to other books in their respective series.

I have been working my way through Mankell's Wallander series though...not perfect, but he really hits his stride around books 5-7. Plus, if you enjoy the books, you have a great BBC series to watch.

BTW, is it just me, or does "Harry Hole" sound like a protagonist name that Bart Simpson would come up with?

I liked the Martin Beck series by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo. I read that it heavily influenced Stieg Larsson.

I second Jo nesbos Harry hole series...read them in order though... Don't just jump to snowman. They are all really good. I was like you after reading millennium series, I wanted a book that was similar. I actually liked Harry hole better in the end.