Book Summary and Reviews of The Girl with Ice in Her Veins by Karin Smirnoff

The Girl with Ice in Her Veins by Karin Smirnoff

The Girl with Ice in Her Veins

A Lisbeth Salander Novel

by Karin Smirnoff

  • Critics' Consensus (3):
  • Published:
  • Sep 2025, 384 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

Lisbeth Salander returns in this chilling new installment of the multi-million-copy bestselling Millennium series.

Sweden's far north is growing colder; even in springtime, the town of Gasskas is buried under a relentless snow. As temperatures drop, tensions rise between a global corporation shamelessly exploiting the area's natural resources and wary locals who have scores to settle. A bomb blasts apart a crucial bridge. Soon after, a young journalist is found murdered.

Meanwhile, Lisbeth is at home in Stockholm, looking to fill the void her last lover left behind. When she discovers that fellow hacker Plague has been kidnapped and taken up north, and finds her niece, Svala, on her doorstep, she has no choice but to return to Gasskas—with Mikael Blomkvist at her side. Blomkvist takes the helm at Gasskas's newspaper, and Lisbeth tries to locate Plague. But then Svala goes missing, and Lisbeth's worst fears come to haunt her...

Lured back to a lawless town full of predators disguised as saviors and foes disguised as friends, forced to face down their own troubling pasts and those of their loved ones, Salander and Blomkvist must untangle a history of violence before it's too late. The Girl with Ice in Her Veins is a twisty, vertiginous, hard-hitting thriller that breathes new life into Stieg Larsson's epic series and unforgettable characters.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"The plot grinds along to an admittedly unexpected end, diverted frequently by the appearance of too many minor characters and too little dramatic tension. Still, Smirnoff has left room for a sequel, and one hopes it won't be a further diminution of Stieg Larsson's once-excellent series. An overstuffed slog in the Salander saga." —Kirkus Reviews

"It's a lot of plot, and Smirnoff makes no room for newcomers to the series, assuming that readers have a near-photographic memory of details from the previous novels. Those who have been following along closely, however, will be rewarded with clever twists and poignant developments in the relationships among the core cast. This continues Smirnoff's hot streak." —Publishers Weekly

"Smirnoff's spin on the Millennium series exposes the characters' emotional vulnerabilities without sacrificing the series' complexity and unflinching thrills." —Booklist

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Author Information

Karin Smirnoff

Karin Smirnoff is a bestselling author in her native Sweden where her books have sold more than 700,000 copies. Her debut novel, My Brother, was nominated for the prestigious August Prize. She was born in Umeå, a small hamlet in northern Sweden, near where she now lives and a short drive from where Stieg Larsson himself grew up.

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