The plot thickens surrounding the prospects of a fourth instalment in the Millennium trilogy of crime novels by the late Swedish crime writer Stieg Larsson (previously reported here). Speaking at the Edinburgh International Book Festival this week, Larsson’s friend and colleague Kurdo Baksi estimated that a partially-finished manuscript that Larsson intended to be the fifth novel in the series is about 70 per cent complete.
As many fans of the trilogy will already know, controversy has surrounded Larsson’s legacy. Larsson’s long-term partner Eva Gabrielsson and Larsson’s estate - his father and brother - have been locked in a bitter dispute over the fortune generated by the success of the trilogy, which was published after the author’s death of a heart attack. Larsson died without leaving a will, meaning that his estate reverted to family as he and Gabrielsson weren’t legally married.
The report of Baksi’s comments contradicts comments made by Gabrielsson herself. Speaking in May at a New York bookstore appearance, Gabrielsson estimated the book at just 200 pages and asked, “Is it really right to become a ghost writer, even if it’s [ghostwriting for] your late partner?” Despite talking prospects of another novel down, Gabrielsson seems to see some value in holding onto the unfinished manuscript. It’s believed Larsson’s estate offered Gabrielsson her share of the flat the couple co-owned in exchange for the computer in which the unfinished novel is stored. Gabrielsson refused the offer.
Baksi himself is the author of a memoir of his friendship with Larsson called, appropriately, Stieg Larsson My Friend.