Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Dark Music': Latest Lagercrantz thriller boasts new detective duo

05/12/2022

Dark Music': Latest Lagercrantz thriller boasts new detective duoBestselling author of The Girl in the Spider's Web', David Lagercrantz's new thriller features a detective duo inspired by Sherlock Holmes.

by Carmen Coetsee

05-12-2022 12:38

in Books

Dark Music' is the latest thriller from bestselling author David Lagercrantz. Image via Twitter @@AAKnopf

Swedish author David Lagercrantz has made a name for himself as the literary successor of famed thriller writer Stieg Larsson. Larsson is behind one of the most famous mystery trilogies in the world: the Millenium Trilogy, made of up the novels The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest.

--

After Larsson's death, Lagercrantz took the baton and continued writing the fourth, fifth and sixth instalments of the Millenium series. The Girl in the Spider's Web, The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye and The Girl Who Lived Twice all went on to became bestsellers.

Leaving behind the world of Larsson, Lagercrantz has taken on a new challenge. His latest thriller, Dark Music, is the first instalment of his own murder mystery series. With a layered mystery at its core and an unforgettable crime-fighting duo, Dark Music is not one to miss.

UNLIKELY DETECTIVE DUO CARRIES LAGERCRANTZ NOVEL Coming soon, the gripping new thriller from the bestselling author of The Girl in the Spider s Web Dark Music is the first in David Lagercrantz s gripping new series inspired by Sherlock Holmes.

Pre-order SIGNED here: https://t.co/AX5UMpx2ZE pic.twitter.com/Lg2A5lRvJb

Waterstones (@Waterstones) February 22, 2022

The true crime world has not shortage of unlikely crime fighting duos. From Arthur Conan Doyle's Holmes and Watson to Stieg Larsson's Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander, readers love detective duos.

--

David Lagercrantz knows this and his latest thriller Dark Music (translated from Swedish by Ian Giles), while a compelling mystery, is carried by the unlikely friendship and teamwork of Professor Hans Rekke and detective Micaela Vargas.

These two characters could not be more different and this is what makes this duo a top team. With dark humour, fast-paced writing and a twisty mystery, Dark Music gives readers a new team to root for.

Here we have #signed 1st editions of Dark Music the brand new thriller from David Lagercrantz

A new series inspired by Sherlock Holmes. A murder investigation brings together two unlikely allies in a race to uncover a shadowy international conspiracyhttps://t.co/AeJiCrWx9C pic.twitter.com/Muy9GphMrN

Fox Lane Books (@foxlanebooks) August 15, 2022

If the novel did not have such a great combination of characters, it would not have been as good a mystery.

--

While the mystery is compelling, the writing style leans a bit chaotic. The reader is sometimes left feeling a bit confused. This could just be Lagercrantz's writing style, or it could have something to do with the fact that Dark Music is a translated work. Sometimes, things do get lost in translation and in Dark Music, the story got a bit muddled at times.

This does not take away from the fact that this is a mystery that will have you hooked. With stunning descriptions of Scandinavian cities and intriguing characters, Dark Music is a perfect Christmas gift for the true crime fanatic in your family.

DARK MUSIC' SYNOPSIS ALSO READ: Catch Me A Killer': SA criminal profiler's memoir turned into series

I'm spending Saturday evening with #DavidLagercrantz's #DarkMusic #translated by @iangiles #Sweden @maclehosepress @swedishbooks pic.twitter.com/2B7OWam1wR

Ewa Sherman (@sh_ewa) October 15, 2022

Professor Hans Rekke is a world authority on interrogation techniques. He was born into wealth and power and has a picture-perfect wife and daughter. But he also has a fragile psyche that falls apart under pressure.

Micaela Vargas is a street-smart police officer. She is the daughter of Chilean political refugees, grew up in the projects on the outskirts of Stockholm and has two brothers on the wrong side of the law. She is tenacious and uncompromising, and desperate to prove herself to her fellow cops.

Micaela needs Hans's unique mind to help her solve the case of a murdered asylum-seeker from Afghanistan. Hans needs Micaela to save him from himself. Together, they need to find the killer before they're both silenced for good.

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR We would like to congratulate David Lagercrantz on his PLATINUM Award for The Girl in The Spider s Web @QuercusBooks @maclehosepress @NielsenBook

Delighted we were able to present David w/ this award last week! Congratulations once again! #BestsellerAward pic.twitter.com/3pxMHXB1gp

The Bestseller Awards (@BestsellerAwrds) September 20, 2022

David Lagercrantz is a Swedish journalist and bestselling author. He studied philosophy and religion, before obtaining a degree from the Gothenburg School of Journalism. He worked as a crime reporter for four years at the Scandinavian newspaper Expressen, where he covered the most prominent murder cases in Sweden during the late 80s and early 90s.

Lagercrantz made his book debut in 1997 with the story of G ran Kropp, a Swedish adventurer who summited Mount Everest with neither oxygen nor Sherpas, only one week after one of the worst disasters ever on the mountain.

The book was a success in Sweden and abroad and paved the way for an illustrious writing career. He has gone on to write several bestselling crime novels.

Dark Music is published by Quercus Publishing and is available from Exclusive Books stores for R363.

WIN WIN WIN R300 with The South African daily Advent QUIZ. ENTER HERE!
LINK: https://www.thesouthafrican.com/culture/books/dark-music-murder-myster...
See more stories from thesouthafrican

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

06/09/2026

Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Germany with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos

June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

03/07/2026

Broadcast Solutions Acquires BFE

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/07/2026

AdClarity Expands CTV Offering to 20 Countries

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/07/2026

Mountain West Conference Launches SVOD Service With New Revenue Model

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/07/2026

Death Star

Death Star Andy Marken July 2, 2026 0 Comments Look, I can't get involved. I've got work to do. It's not that I like the Empire; I hate i...

03/07/2026

Berklee's New Visual Identity: Honoring Our History, Building for What's Next

Berklee's New Visual Identity: Honoring Our History, Building for What's...

03/07/2026

July 01, 2026

Scripps Research scientists awarded $2M to advance global disease surveillance Two Gates Foundation grants will expand wastewater surveillance and AI-driven dis...

03/07/2026

July 02, 2026

Joan Pulupa joins Scripps Research faculty to study the organization of DNA in brain cells and its links to neurodegeneration Using smell-sensing neurons and ad...

02/07/2026

SVG Students To Watch: Abby Finke, University of Dayton

Entering her senior year, this hometown girl is paving a career in live sports production gaining experience in replay and audio and as a TD In the live-sports...

02/07/2026

SVG GameDay, Ep. 22: Winnipeg Jets Kyle Balharry - Going to Work in the Great White North

In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...

02/07/2026

BLAST Reports $133 Million in 2025 Revenue, Opens New York Headquarters

BLAST, a competitive entertainment company focused on esports, has announced more than $133 million in revenue for 2025, representing more than 40% year-over-ye...

02/07/2026

Riedel and SKAARHOJ Expand Collaboration with SimplyLive Integration

Riedel Communications has announced official SKAARHOJ panel support for SimplyLive production workflows, enabled through the SimplyLive 2.1 release. The integra...

02/07/2026

Czech Fire Rescue Service Deploys LiveU Video Transmission for Emergency Operations

The Fire Rescue Service of the Czech Republic has deployed LiveU video-over-bond...

02/07/2026

Gravity Media USA Appoints Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development

Gravity Media USA has announced the appointment of Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development, effective July 1, 2026. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Bosto...

02/07/2026

TwelveLabs Raises $100 Million in Series B Funding

TwelveLabs, a video intelligence company, has announced $100 million in Series B funding co-led by NEA and NAVER Ventures, with participation from Amazon, Radic...

02/07/2026

Pro Padel League Announces Broadcast Partnership With USA Sports for 2026 Season

The Pro Padel League (PPL) has announced a broadcast partnership with USA Sports that will air five PPL championship matches on CNBC during the 2026 season, the...

02/07/2026

LiveLike Powers Eight FIFA World Cup 2026 Fan Engagement Activations Across Five Continents

LiveLike, a digital fan engagement platform, has announced eight confirmed FIFA ...

02/07/2026

InfoComm 2026: Cobalt Digitals blueCORE Wins Futures Best of Show Award

Cobalt Digital has received Future's Best of Show Award, presented by AV Technology at InfoComm 2026, for its blueCORE family of standalone signal processor...

02/07/2026

Synamedia Appoints Dr. Tzvi Gerstl as CEO

Synamedia has announced the appointment of Dr. Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transition...

02/07/2026

Esports World Cup 2026 Announces Expanded Sony Partnership for Paris Event

The Esports Foundation (EF) and Sony Group Corporation have announced an expanded collaboration for the Esports World Cup 2026 (EWC), taking place in Paris, Fra...

02/07/2026

Zee Entertainment Secures Exclusive Bundesliga Rights in India for Five Years

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. ( Z') has announced exclusive broadcast and digital rights for the Bundesliga in India for five years, beginning with the...

02/07/2026

All Hands on Deck: NBCU Comes Together to Produce Ultra-Complex Sail4th 250 Broadcast on July 4

NBCU brings together News, Sports, Local, and Telemundo for a 50+ camera live pr...

02/07/2026

Release Rundown: What to Watch in July, From Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass to Murder 101

Zoey Deutch, John Slattery, Ken Marino, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, and Ben Wang appe...

02/07/2026

The Crow Hill Company introduce Brackish Pads

Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...

02/07/2026

Steinberg SpectraLayers 13 now available

A new era in unmixing and spectral editing The latest version of Steinberg's spectral audio-editing software has just arrived, building on the strength...

02/07/2026

Sine Machine from Melatonin

Aims to simplify additive synthesis Sine Machine is the debut launch from Melatonin, a Vienna-based developer who have spent the past six years creating wha...

02/07/2026

iZotope acquired by Boris FX

Products to remain fully active & supported Following the news of Native Instruments joining the inMusic brand line-up, Academy and Emmy Award-winning visua...

02/07/2026

GearExpo UK 2026

What you missed! Last weekend, Saturday 27 June 2026, saw the debut of Sound On Sounds new GearExpo UK event, the largest dedicated pro-audio event to take ...

02/07/2026

Imagine Communications Acquired by Lumine Group

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

02/07/2026

Rise AV APAC Brings Mentoring Conversation to InfoComm As...

Following the successful launch of its inaugural APAC Mentoring Programme last month, the Rise AV APAC Regional Council will bring the conversation around mento...

02/07/2026

Blackmagic PYXIS 6K Used to Shoot Director Takahisa Zeze's Cry Out

Blackmagic PYXIS 6K Used to Shoot Director Takahisa Zeze's Cry Out Brie Clayton July 2, 2026 0 Comments Highly mobile camera supports tense and de...

02/07/2026

Broadcast Solutions acquires BFE, expanding its lead in European broadcast, media and communications infrastructure

Broadcast Solutions acquires BFE, expanding its lead in European broadcast, medi...

02/07/2026

Berklee Alum and Faculty Perform at Boston Public Library's 250th Anniversary Celebration of the Declaration of Independence

Berklee Alum and Faculty Perform at Boston Public Library's 250th Anniversar...

02/07/2026

Broadcast Solutions acquires BFE

Broadcast Solutions GmbH, a leading systems integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast media industry, is acquiring BFE Studio und Medien...

02/07/2026

LiveMode builds agile content ingest with Cinegy

Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has extended the ingest facility at leading Brazilian sports company LiveMode, work...

02/07/2026

Synamedia Appoints Dr Tzvi Gerstl CEO

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

02/07/2026

Cobalt Digitals blueCORE Wins Futures Best of Show Award...

Standalone processors acknowledged for the innovation and value they bring to Pro AV Cobalt Digital, a leading designer and manufacturer of signal processing ...

02/07/2026

Synamedia Appoints Dr Tzvi Gerstl as CEO as Company Enter...

Synamedia announced today the appointment of Dr Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transitio...

02/07/2026

Screen Australia backs audience-led filmmaking with new insight-driven initiatives

Screen Australia backs audience-led filmmaking with new insight-driven initiativ...

02/07/2026

Screen Australia refines guidelines for Narrative Content Development and Documentary Development

Screen Australia refines guidelines for Narrative Content Development and Docume...

02/07/2026

Maxon Autograph: Introduction to working with Tables

Maxon Autograph: Introduction to working with Tables Simon Ubsdell July 1, 2026 0 Comments An overview of Autograph's ridiculously powerful tables...

02/07/2026

Boston Conservatory's Soire Breaks Records to Fund Student Scholarships

Boston Conservatory's Soir e Breaks Records to Fund Student Scholarships The event achieved 127 percent of its fundraising goal in an evening celebrating ...

02/07/2026

How Adam Rosenwach Pivoted from Music to Med Tech Without Missing a Beat

How Adam Rosenwach Pivoted from Music to Med Tech Without Missing a Beat What do the rehearsal room and the boardroom have in common? More than you might thin...

02/07/2026

Warner Bros. Discovery UK & Ireland backs Unacceptable for a second series on TLC ahead of Sunday's premiere

Warner Bros. Discovery UK & Ireland backs Unacceptable for a second series on TL...

02/07/2026

Tea with Judi Dench returns to Sky Arts with legendary guest, Sir Ian McKellen

Thursday 2 July 2026 Tea with Judi Dench returns to Sky Arts with legendary guest, Sir Ian McKellen Sky today confirms Tea with Judi Dench will return this su...

02/07/2026

Joyride Through July With 12 Games Coming to GeForce NOW

Summer is heating up - and GeForce NOW is taking players along for the ride. Start the month with Monopoly: Star Wars Heroes vs. Villains, bringing a galaxy fa...

01/07/2026

Broadcast Management Group Appoints Kathy Samuels as Director of Creative Services

Broadcast Management Group (BMG) has announced the appointment of Kathy Samuels ...