65. "The Girl Who Played with Fire" by Stieg Larsson

The Girl Who Played with Fire continues the stories of Lisbeth Salander, Mikael Blomkvist, and their friends, lovers, and coworkers. Blomkvist and his colleagues at Millennium magazine purchase an article and book about sex trafficking, but before the drafts are finalized, the journalist who wrote the pieces and his girlfriend/fellow researcher are killed. Evidence at the crime scene implicates Salander, who goes into hiding, mistrustful of the authorities. Blomkvist refuses to believe she's guilty, and his parallel investigation uncovers information about her past, including her reasons for that mistrust. 

The cliffhanger ending definitely left me eager to read the final installment in the trilogy. Kudos to Stieg Larsson for his casual gender equality--unlike too many American authors (who use male characters' last names and female characters' first names), he uses most of the characters' last names consistently. On the other hand, he doesn't seem to be quite clear about which events from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo happened when, or how long ago.

Like its predecessor, this book isn't for those who prefer their books without excessive violence and disturbing depictions (albeit for the purpose of highlighting the disturbing reality) of rape. It's also a bit longer, at 700-plus pages, which is not so great for people like me who get sucked into Larsson's books to the point that we can't do anything else until we finish them. :)