Fifth Novel in Stieg Larsson’s “Trilogy” Confirmed

The story is unraveling, one careful piece at a time, not unlike a nest of subplots in one of the author’s own books.

The latest piece of author Steig Larsson’s posthumous story is that rumors of a completed novel to follow the trio started with The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, has been confirmed by the author’s family. From the New York Times:

So said Mr. Larsson’s brother, Joakim, in an interview on CBS that was broadcast on Sunday.

“I got an e-mail from Stieg 10 days before he died, where he said that book four is nearly finished,” Joakim Larsson said in the interview, which also included his father, Erland.

“To make it more complicated, this book No. 4 — that’s book No. 5,” he added. “Because he thought that was more fun to write.”

But, in reality, it’s even more complicated than that. Larsson, who died in 2004, prior to the publication of the first book in his now internationally bestselling Millennium series, appears not to have made financial provisions for his longtime companion, Eva Gabrielsson, and thus the huge windfall associated with the hot international franchise has been going to Larsson’s family. (Though, in fairness, what new author anticipates the sort of attention this series has drawn?)

So for yet another part of the plot, it turns out the previously “rumored” manuscript is actually on a laptop in Gabrielsson’s possession. Not only does it seem unlikely she’ll give it up, the family is reportedly saying they won’t allow the book to be published.

Nor does it seem as though the story will quieten down anytime soon. Swedish productions of film versions of the first two books in the series have met with international acclaim. A Hollywood adaptation of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is set for a December 2011 release starring Daniel Craig as Mikael Blomkvist and Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander. Secondary roles are yet to be confirmed.

The plot thickens.