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The Man Who Played with Fire

Stieg Larsson's Lost Files and the Hunt for an Assassin

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About this listen

The author of the Millennium novels laid out the clues. Now a journalist is following them.

When Stieg Larsson died, the author of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo had been working on a true mystery that out-twisted his Millennium novels: the assassination on February 28, 1986, of Olof Palme, the Swedish prime minister. It was the first time in history that a head of state had been murdered without a clue who’d done it—and on a Stockholm street at point-blank range.

Internationally known for his fictional far-right villains, Larsson was well acquainted with their real-life counterparts and documented extremist activities throughout the world. For years he’d been amassing evidence that linked their terrorist acts to what he called “one of the most astounding murder cases” he’d ever covered. Larsson’s archive was forgotten until journalist Jan Stocklassa was given exclusive access to the author’s secret project.

In The Man Who Played with Fire, Stocklassa collects the pieces of Larsson’s true-crime puzzle to follow the trail of intrigue, espionage, and conspiracy begun by one of the world’s most famous thriller writers. Together they set out to solve a mystery that no one else could.

©2019 by Jan Stocklassa (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. Murder Organized Crime True Crime Assassin Crime

Critic reviews

"Fascinating undercover work." (AudioFile magazine)

"Having gained exclusive access to Larsson's trove of research, Stocklassa presents an in-depth look into the investigation. Based on the findings, Swedish police now have a suspect for the first time in years. This well-crafted whodunit will keep readers engaged from start to finish.... This story is sure to gain international traction as the investigation into the Palme assassination heats up again." (Library Journal)

"Larsson buffs won't want to miss this one." (Publishers Weekly)
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I had no idea I could be so hooked on a non-fiction book. This story of an unsolved mystery had me coming up with my own theories all the way through.

Surprisingly captivating.

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Not the thriller i was hoping for but got me through some daily chores.
Never quite took off and still loads of questions unanswered

Docubookery

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An interesting look into the investigative journalist side of Stieg Larsson’s life. His own life closely mirrors that of his fictitious alto ego, Mikael Blomkvist and as his experiences unfold it’s plain to see where the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo characters came from. Politics and Swedish history play a big part in this book and it tended to get a bit bogged down with detail. However, this was still an interesting read.

An interesting read

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I was hooked by the book from the beginning, not an easy read, as Jan fills the pages with facts and information relating firstly to Stieg Larssons biography and the extensive research that he had done relating to Olaf Palma's death in the 1980's. Then after Stieg's untimely passing, Jan continues to dig into the mystery surrounding the shooting.
Gripped from the beginning, I found it was worth stopping, and re-listening to key chapters, so that I had events clear in my own mind before moving forward again. The fact that the events Jan wrote about were actual and not fictional and that the mystery has only just been officially resolved, in no small part to Stieg, and then Jans consistent investigations, vindicates the massive amount of work and time that they put in.
I can highly recommend!

Brilliant and Intriguing Book

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The book is the narrative of a well researched investigation of the Olaf Palme murder, based on initial research by Stieg Larsson. The book illustrates the power of investigative journalism. It does start with the many details of Larsson's investigation, whose documents were casually found by the author. From then on, the author did his own research, uncovering many details and interviewing some key individuals who even the Swedish police failed to find to be interviewed.
The investigation is competently presented in the book. If we didn't know otherwise, this could have been an excellent fiction work, given the level of careful research and organized facts presentation, coupled with an excellent narration.
The book does not conclusively explain who murdered Palme, but it does paint a decent enough picture, much clearer than whatever the Swedish police investigation did. In fact, the book raises a lot of questions about the competence of the Swedish led investigation, for which the more than 30 years since the murder occurred without the investigation being closed are a strong indictment on their own.
All things considered, this is an excellent listen, which I cannot recommend enough.

Real life trumps fiction

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