Fresh twist in saga of Swedish best-seller Larsson's legacy

Jan 26, 2010, 12:52 GMT

Stockholm - New twists keep emerging about late Swedish best-selling crime writer Stieg Larsson - just like in his page-turners.

The latest is that Larsson's partner might have played a more prominent role in the creation of the so-called Millennium Trilogy than previously thought, reports said Tuesday.

Larsson, a journalist turned novelist who died of a heart attack at age 50 in 2004, has earned huge but posthumous success with the trilogy, which has been translated into several languages.

However his multi-million dollar estate is contested, after he died wihtout a wll, meaning his estate was largely inherited by his father and brother, rather than his partner of 32 years, Eva Gabrielsson.

On Tuesday in an email exchange between Gabrielsson and the Danish daily Politiken, she said she and Larsson became very close 'regarding our language, habits and values.'

'It is difficult for me to se what is solely Stieg and what is solely me in the language, content and so on of the Millennium (Trilogy),' she said.

However when asked if the books were co-written, Gabrielsson ended the exchange - saying she could not 'discuss this publicly,' Politiken said.

Gabrielsson was later this year due to publish a book about her life with Larsson.

The emails in Politiken appeared to add weight to a recent article by one of Larsson's former colleagues who said his recollection was that Larsson was an average writer but a very skilled researcher.

Journalist Anders Hellberg, who worked with Larsson at the Swedish news agency TT in the late 1970s and early 1980s, said he believed Larsson had been helped to write his books.

Larsson's publisher and other former colleagues at TT however rejected the speculation that Larsson was not the sole author.

He was a 'very mature crime writer and his manuscripts were very well-written,' publisher Eva Gedin told Dagens Nyheter over the weekend.

The Millennium Trilogy has also been filmed. The first book - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - won three awards Monday evening at the Swedish film gala, including for best picture and best female actor.

Since Gabrielsson and Larsson never married, and he died without a will, his estate was inherited by his father Erland, and brother Joakim.

They offered Gabrielsson a sum last year, but no agreement has yet been reached.