Larsson's Virtual Stockholm

I know I border on the obsessive when it comes to the work of Stieg Larsson, especially as the excitement is building again. Firstly I’ve been invited to a special press screening of the Swedish film version of ‘Men Who Hate Women’ [aka ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’] in London soon. I heard that talks are advanced about a US version; and of course Vol III of the Millennium Series ‘The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest’ is due out in the first English Translation this Autumn from Quercus.

It seems I’m not alone about my love for Larsson’s work. I wrote about the Swedish tourist board following the international success of this late journalist turned crime-writer’s work. I have over the years travelled the world, and I enjoyed the brief time I spent in Stockholm, which included buying books at Hedegrens Bookstore back in 2001.

I was pleased to see that the Swedish Tourist Board have now put on a virtual Stieg Larsson Millennium tour –

The books; ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’, ‘The Girl Who Played with Fire’ and ‘The Girl who Kicked over the Hornet’s Nest’ became mega-hits in Sweden and the English, French and German language translations of the first two sold millions of copies.

Södermalm, where most of the intrigue in the Millenium series takes place, used to be a blue-collar area of Stockholm and is one of fourteen islands that make up the capital city. Over the past couple of decades the area has been spruced up, for good or for bad, and is the setting for much of the action in his books – and of the Millenium tour, run by the Stockholm City Museum.

This 90-minute walking tour is in English and French and its highlights include Götgatan, where Mikael Blomkvist’s, the trilogy’s main character, office is; the view over Riddarfjärden from his apartment and ‘Kvarnen’, a legendary drinking hall on Södermalm frequented by Lisbeth Salander, another main character in the books.

Click Here to see the Millennium Virtual Tour

If that hasn’t slaked your thirst for Sweden’s crime fiction then why not take the Kurt Wallander virtual tour of Ystad -

The beautiful south-coast town of Ystad draws Kurt Wallander fans from near and far to the settings and crime scenes of Henning Mankell’s dour detective’s world. Ystad is a small town with a big harbour, with boats going to and from Poland and Bornholm (Denmark). The network of streets in the old part of town is pretty much the same as it was back in medieval times and there are many fine examples of houses and buildings from this period. On the guided “Wallander” tour around the town you get to see Hotel Continental, where Wallander frequently dines out, the flower shop on the corner of Pottmakaregränd and Västra Vallgatan, and Mariagatan, where Wallander lives. You also visit Ystad Studio, the police station where he works and his favourite hamburger and pizza joints.

For a plethora of my articles, interviews and features on Stieg Larsson and his work – click here