So, it's farewell then, Lisbeth Salander

And, oh, how I shall miss you because I fell head over heels in love with you.  Yes, you were a bi-sexual, autistic punk with an exceedingly vicious streak of violence running through you, and yet, and yet, you stole my heart away, and now you are gone forever.

Oh dear, I hear you groan, the old fool's really lost it this time, dribbling away about a young girl at his age!  And you are right, of course.  But Lisbeth was the most dangerous of attractive young girls - she was a figment of the imagination, not mine, I hasten to add, but of the late Stieg Larsson who wrote three superb mystery thrillers featuring Lisbeth as the heroine but who then had impertinence to drop dead bringing his sequence to a sudden halt.

I urge you all to try these three books but it is important to take them in order, as follows:

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

The Girl who Played with Fire

The Girls who Kicked the Hornet's Nest

I guarantee, men or women, you too will fall in love with Lisbeth, surely the most fascinating character invented in fiction for decades.

However, whilst I am on the subject of Scandinavian thrillers let me recommend yet another author, this one from Norway, called Jo Nesbo.  The last 'o' has a line through it but I can't reproduce that on this machine.  I picked up one of his whilst shuffling through (yet another) charity shop - they all know my name now and greet me with 'hello, Mr. Duff, after another cheap book, are we?' - so humiliating! - and it is called The Redbreast.  Again, an excellent thriller with shades of The Day of the Jackal in it.  Last time I was browsing in Waterstones (I only ever browse there) I noticed that several of his books are on their shelves in paperback versions.  Even so, cheapskate that I am, I shall keep cruising the charity shops until more appear.

What is rather odd is that everyone's favourite Scandinavian detective is Wallander but I find him a complete and utter bore and a miserable one to boot!

Comments

[Tim Newman]

I haven't forgotten that I am supposed to get back to you after reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and A Most Wanted Man. I finished them both in a few day, and I'm now onto The Girl who Played with Fire.

I'll drop you a line soon enough.

[David Duff]

Well, sounds encouraging, Tim, if you're on to book II, but what about the le Carre - up to his old standard, do you think?