Crime Flies

From Sweden with Luv

Joy is not the first emotion one would expect to feel while reading a long Swedish crime novel that deals with misogyny, sex trafficking, police corruption, and a handful of explicitly gruesome murders. Yet the second novel in Stieg Larsson's internationally bestselling Millennium series, turns a reader inside out with a joy that can't be squashed.

Beyond our shores -- in France, Italy, Sweden, and points farther out -- there has been a veritable explosion of vibrant and stimulating crime fiction. Here are some of the most interesting recent finds from all over the map.

• The First Volume of the Millennium Trilogy: Girl with the Dragon Tattoo