The Author To Know: David Lagercrantz
Best-selling author of I am Zlatan Ibrahimovic and 11 other well-known titles, Lagercrantz is a man who wears numerous hats. One moment he is a journalist, the next he is a biographer, the next a ghost-writer, then a novelist. A man of sheer talent and verve.
Born in Solna in 1962 to Olof Lagercrantz (a critic and publicist), and his wife, Martina Ruin (daughter of writer and philosopher, Hans Ruin), Lagercrantz grew up in Sweden, immersing himself in the bustling literary scene. The young writer studied philosophy and religion at Gothenburg School of Journalism, and started out his successful career as a crime reporter at Sundsvalls Tidning, a regional newspaper.
After leaving that job, he moved to Expressen where he covered the Åmsele murders and used the content he had researched for his 1998 book, Änglarna i Åmsele. In 1997, Lagercrantz released his first book, Göran Kropp 8000+, a biography of Swedish climber, Göran Kropp. In 2000, he released his second book, Ett Svenskt Geni, which was consequently turned into a film, Patent 986.
In 2013, the esteemed Swedish publishing house, Norstedts förlag, and the grand estate of Stieg Larsson, announced that a new writer was set to take up the title of creator and confidant of the Millennium series. You must be living in a pretty deep hole if you haven’t read or at least heard of these books. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl who Played with Fire and The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest are all known around the world as being the crème de la crème of psychological-crime fiction.
After Stieg Larsson’s sudden death in 2004, his legacy and fan-base was left behind to wonder what would happen next to the investigative journalist, Mikael Blomkvist and his estranged computer-hacker ally, Lisbeth Salander. Lagercrantz was the one to take up that challenge and completed two further works under the Larsson name, The Girl in the Spider’s Web and The Girl who Takes an Eye for an Eye.
Both stories follow the trend and the heart-beat of Larsson’s works. The touch of poison in Larsson’s words flood through to pages. Like a method actor, whilst writing the two Millennium books, Lagercrantz took to the places Larsson described in his books and tried to write as though the characters were his own creation. The author knew what a big job he had on his hands. Through his craftsmanship, the comradery of the characters seem to mould the bone of Salander being the main attraction. Lagercrantz’s duality of the craft immerses him with the greats.