The Man Who Played with Fire: Stieg Larsson's Lost Files and the Hunt for an Assassin

Description

The author of the Millennium novels laid out the clues. Now a journalist is following them. When Stieg Larsson died, the author of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo had been working on a true mystery that out-twisted his Millennium novels: the assassination on February 28, 1986, of Olof Palme, the Swedish prime minister. It was the first time in history that a head of state had been murdered without a clue who'd done it - and on a Stockholm street at point-blank range. Internationally known for his fictional far-right villains, Larsson was well acquainted with their real-life counterparts and documented extremist activities throughout the world. For years he'd been amassing evidence that linked their terrorist acts to what he called "one of the most astounding murder cases" he'd ever covered. Larsson's archive was forgotten until journalist Jan Stocklassa was given exclusive access to the author's secret project.

Jan Stocklassa is a Swedish writer and journalist focusing on large-scale conspiracies in international politics. In his books, Stocklassa uses a narrative nonfiction style to unveil unknown facts about important events in recent history. His breakthrough came with the critically acclaimed bestseller Stieg Larsson's Archive: The Key to the Palme Murder, a narrative nonfiction book published in 2018 that has been sold in more than fifty countries and translated into twenty-six languages. Following its publication, Swedish police began actively pursuing the leads presented in the book in the assassination of Swedish prime minister Olof Palme. His professional career includes being a Swedish diplomat, launching the Metro newspaper in Prague, and collaborating as a journalist with major media houses in Sweden and abroad, as well as coproducing the movie and TV series Stieg Larsson: The Man Who Played with Fire.

"Having gained exclusive access to Larsson's trove of research, Stocklassa presents an in-depth look into the investigation. Based on the findings, Swedish police now have a suspect for the first time in years. This well-crafted whodunit will keep readers engaged from start to finish...This story is sure to gain international traction as the investigation into the Palme assassination heats up again." -Library Journal "Larsson buffs won't want to miss this one." -Publishers Weekly "It's more than just a thrilling book...there's a lot of evidence that points to an international conspiracy." -CBS This Morning Saturday "A fascinating 'creative nonfiction' account of the greatest unsolved mystery in Swedish history." -Wall Street Journal "It's rare...to see true-crime narratives that convincingly and humbly enter the realm of spy thrillers, but Stocklassa's book really, really does...Stocklassa certainly reveals the sinister underbelly of governmental operations." -NPR "Fans of the Millennium books will certainly enjoy this recreation of Larsson's attempts to solve a real-life murder...Stocklassa succeeds in infecting us with the 'Palme bug'. It is impossible to read and not yearn for resolution." -The Spectator (UK) "Stocklassa's book has shone a new light on a tragedy that has haunted Sweden for three decades...reads like a spy thriller." -The New European (UK) "[A] Larssonesque take on the mystery...How [Stocklassa] manages to arrive at his conclusions in an investigation lasting eight years and recruiting a team of fellow journalists and shady Swedes and a honey-trap Czech woman called Lida, is riveting reading. You can't make it up. Fact is not only stranger than fiction but even more fantastic." -The Independent (UK)