Talks collapse over estate of Swedish best-selling writer Larsson

Jun 15, 2010, 16:10 GMT

Stockholm - Talks over the contested estate of the late Swedish best-selling crime writer Stieg Larsson have collapsed, his brother - one of the main heirs - said Tuesday.

Larsson, a journalist turned novelist who died of a heart attack at age 50 in 2004, has achieved posthumous success with his Millennium Trilogy, which has been translated into several languages.

The trilogy has already been filmed in Swedish, and the US film company Columbia Pictures recently signed for rights to the material.

Larsson died without a will, leaving his estate to be largely inherited by his father and brother, rather than his common-law partner of 32 years, Eva Gabrielsson.

Talks between Gabrielsson and Larsson's relatives have ended after a six-month deadlock, his brother Joakim told Swedish broadcaster SVT's culture and arts programme Kulturnytt.

'Unfortunately, she has not wanted to accept the offer, either in part or all of it,' Joakim Larsson said, noting that the offer included 20 million kronor (2.5 million dollars) and a position on the board of the company that will manage Larsson's literary estate.

Joakim Larsson also complained in a statement that Gabrielsson has smeared him and his father for the past five years.

Gabrielsson countered that the talks were broken off 'unilaterally,' adding that Joakim Larsson had simply informed her lawyer in an email.