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 ...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

01/04/2026

DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION

January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...

28/01/2026

OpenDrives Announces New Funding, Appoints Trevor Morgan CEO

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

28/01/2026

AWARN Alliance Backs ATSC Sunset, NextGen TV Security Measures

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

28/01/2026

More Than Two Dozen Groups Tell FCC to Reject Nexstar-Tegna Deal

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

28/01/2026

Screen Australia refreshes Market & Audience approach to increase the impact of local content

28 01 2026 - Media release Screen Australia refreshes Market & Audience approach...

28/01/2026

Boston Conservatory Orchestra Premieres a New Piano Concerto by Peter and Leonardo Dugan

Boston Conservatory Orchestra Premieres a New Piano Concerto by Peter and Leonar...

27/01/2026

Akamai and Yospace Deliver Seamless, Personalised Ad Experiences to Tens of Millions of ABEMA Users

Click for Japanese version Tokyo, Japan - January 27, 2026 - Akamai Technolo...

27/01/2026

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and Sundance Institute Name Winners of Science-In-Film Initiative's Feature Film Prize and Artist Grants

L-R: Jonathan Cuchacovich, Sonia Kennebeck, Alan Fischer, Daeil Kim, Andrew Sta...

27/01/2026

B-LINE Is Here to Help: Backline Launches 24/7 Music Industry Mental Health & Crisis Support Line in Partnership with Spotify

Today, Spotify is proud to support our partner Backline, an industry-leading men...

27/01/2026

Netn Vega's Genre-Bending Sound Hits a Crossover Moment on Spotify's RADAR

With nearly 29 million monthly listeners and clear momentum on Spotify, Net n Ve...

27/01/2026

25 Ontario Named One of Torontos Best New Buildings

January 14, 2026 We are proud to share that 25 Ontario, First Gulf's commercial project located just two minutes from our head office, has been recognized ...

27/01/2026

Full-Building Lease Secured at Speers Road

January 22, 2026 First Gulf is excited to share that a full-building lease has been secured at 625 Bronte Rd in Oakville, part of Bronte Station Business Park,...

27/01/2026

Another Gold for First Gulf and 351 King Street East

January 23, 2026 First Gulf continues to demonstrate its commitment to high-performance, sustainable real estate with 351 King Street East achieving BOMA BEST ...

27/01/2026

Clear-Com Empowers Reykjavik City Theatre with New Upgrades

eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......

27/01/2026

Hubbard Broadcasting Renews Partnership With Nielsen in Albany and Albuquerque-Santa Fe Markets

Nielsen will continue to drive growth and provide local audience measurement in...

27/01/2026

Pebble Adds Paul Nagle-Smith as VP of Customer Fulfillment

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Pinterest Bluesky Email...

27/01/2026

Study: Top Reason for Cancelling Streaming Service Is Programming

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Pinterest Bluesky Email...

27/01/2026

U.K.'s Digital TV Group Taps Leslie Mackenzie as Chair

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Pinterest Bluesky Email...

27/01/2026

Amagi becomes the first cloud-native SaaS company offerin...

Amagi Media Labs Limited, the only cloud-native SaaS provider offering end-to-end solutions across live production, content preparation, distribution, and monet...

27/01/2026

Miri Technologies Launches V410 Live 4K Video Encoder-Dec...

Miri Technologies Inc. today unveiled its V410 live 4K video encoder/decoder for streaming, IP-based production workflows and AV-over-IP distribution. Designed ...

27/01/2026

UML Tsongas Center Upgrades with Ikegami UHK-X600 Cameras

The Paul E. Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell in Massachusetts has chosen Ikegami cameras for incorporation into its broadcast-quality television production facili...

27/01/2026

SipRadius provides simplicity and security for AV content...

SipRadius, specialists in secure, low latency media transport, will show the pro AV community its end-to-end solution for high quality content distribution and ...

27/01/2026

Hiltron to Showcase its Full Range of Satcom Solutions at...

Hiltron will highlight the fruits of its 45-plus years of experience in satellite communications system integration and product development at the annual GovSat...

27/01/2026

Broadcast and pro AV professionals cut costs and single-u...

Klvr will demonstrate how its Charger Pro solution is delivering cost reduction and performance benefits for live entertainment and pro AV markets at ISE 2026 (...

27/01/2026

Amino Showcases Single Player Digital Signage and Enterpr...

Amino, a global media technology leader in enterprise video and digital signage, today announced that its Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 2026 booth (4N700) wil...

27/01/2026

ANI Expands Strategic Partnership with LiveU

ANI, India's leading news agency and a major content provider across the Asia Pacific region, today announced a significant expansion of its long standing p...

27/01/2026

VisualOn and The Channel Store Demonstrate Up to 65 Perce...

Independent analysis confirms faster encoding, lower CPU usage, and improved perceptual quality compared to CBR and CRF VisualOn, a leader in multimedia playba...

27/01/2026

EVS Officially Launches eShop

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Pinterest Bluesky Email...

27/01/2026

Miri to Showcase New V410 Video Encoder/Decoder at ISE 2026

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Pinterest Bluesky Email...

27/01/2026

FCC Settles Two Investigations, Renews Three TV Station Licenses

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Pinterest Bluesky Email...

27/01/2026

UML Tsongas Center Upgrades to Ikegami UHK-X600 Cameras

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Pinterest Bluesky Email...

27/01/2026

Australian Defence Force Secures Satellite Communications on SES IS-22

New agreement for uninterrupted UHF connectivity for Australian Defence Force through 2033, With Options Extending to 2041 Luxembourg, January 13, 2026 - Satel...

27/01/2026

SNL UK creative team expands as Pauli Lovejoy, Annie Hardinge and Kevin Fortune join series

Tuesday 27 January 2026 SNL UK creative team expands as Pauli Lovejoy, Annie Ha...

27/01/2026

When It Feels Real, Is It Still a Lie? The Art of Sarah' Premieres February 13

Back to All News When It Feels Real, Is It Still a Lie? The Art of Sarah' ...

27/01/2026

That Night premiering on Netflix March 13

Back to All News That Night premiering on Netflix March 13 Entertainment 27 January 2026 GlobalSpain Link copied to clipboard DOWNLOAD THE KEY ART DOWNLO...

27/01/2026

Netflix Revealed the Future of Mexican Stories Coming in 2026

Back to All News Netflix Revealed the Future of Mexican Stories Coming in 2026 Entertainment 27 January 2026 GlobalMexico Link copied to clipboard Among t...

27/01/2026

What's Next on Netflix from Japan: Expanding the Possibilities of Storytelling in 2026

Back to All News What's Next on Netflix from Japan: Expanding the Possibili...

27/01/2026

FOR-A to show cutting edge technology at FOMEX 2026

AI, graphics and virtual software power new production capabilities...

27/01/2026

RT is Supporting 20 Arts and Cultural Events all over Ireland this February

RT Supporting the Arts is delighted to support a dynamic programme of cultural events taking place across Ireland this February. From visual art, film, music, ...

26/01/2026

New Directed By' Series Explores the Making of Music Videos and Kicks Off With Maisie Peters

Music videos play a huge part in how fans connect with their favorite songs, but...

26/01/2026

NAIDOC launches 2026 theme 50 Years of Deadly, marks major milestone

NAIDOC launches 2026 theme 50 Years of Deadly , marks major milestone 25 January, 2026 Media releases The National NAIDOC Committee has today unveiled its...

26/01/2026

Amagi Lists on Indian Stock Exchanges

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Pinterest Bluesky Email...

26/01/2026

FCC Releases Tentative Agenda for Jan. 29 Open Meeting

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Pinterest Bluesky Email...

26/01/2026

Dante Turns 20

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Pinterest Bluesky Email...

26/01/2026

APTS, PBS Tell FCC Not to Set a Firm Date for ATSC 1.0 Sunset

Share Share by: Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Pinterest Bluesky Email...