Lisbeth Slander is single-handedly responsible for driving the popularity of Nordic Noir. Capturing the imagination of millions, Nordic Noir has entered the mainstream. But what is Nordic Noir? Let's break the term into two: Nordic and Noir. Countries in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic mainly comprising Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway are termed as Nordic. Scandinavia is sometimes used as a synonym for Nordic countries. Noir is a genre of crime film or fiction characterised by cynicism and bleak settings among others. Coined by the Scandinavian Department in the University College of London, the term gained currency in the 2010s. Its inception can be marked in Swedish journalist Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo's stories of detective Martin Beck.
Swedish journalist Steig Larsson created a series of crime novels- Millennium. The series revolves around two primary characters- Lisbeth Salander(computer hacker) and Mikael Blomkvist (investigative journalist and the publisher of Millennium magazine). Till now, seven books have been published. The first three in the seven-book series have been written by Larsson known as the Millennium Trilogy.
Originally, Larsson had planned ten instalments but completed only three before his sudden death in 2004. Nordtedts Forlag, Sweden's oldest publishing company published the three posthumously: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in 2005, The Girl Who Played with Fire in 2006, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest in 2007. The English editions were further taken up by Quercus in the United Kingdom and in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf. Steven T. Murray (1943-2018), an American translator is best known for translating Larsson's Millennium Series. He has also worked under pseudonyms Reg Keeland and Mckinley Burnett in UK editions. Why is Murray notable? Besides the Millennium series, the American translator has translated several other works from Swedish, Danish, German and Norwegian. The crime novels by Henning Mankell and psychological suspense by Karin Alvtegen found a translator in Murray. In 2001, he was awarded the Gold Dagger Award in the UK for his translation of Henning Mankell's Sidetracked.
Sweden's oldest and one of the largest publishing companies, Norstedts Forlag commissioned Swedish author and crime journalist David Lagercrantz to continue the Millennium series. Continuing Larsson's characters, The Girl in the Spider's Web was published in 2015, followed by The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye in 2017, and The Girl Who Lived Twice in 2019. In 2021, publishing house Polaris acquired the rights and announced a new trilogy by Swedish author Karin Smirnoff. In 2022, The Girl in the Eagle's Talons was published. Additionally, the series has been adapted into Graphic novels by Vertigo Comics besides Swedish and American films
A tribute to Agatha Christie, the Millennium series has found another mighty push in Karin Smirnoff, the first woman to head the Millennium series.