MacLehose Press has today revealed the cover of the fourth book in Steig Larsson’s Millennium series, The Girl in the Spider’s Web. Written by Swedish author David Lagercrantz, it will be released worldwide on 27 August. It continues the story that began in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which was first published in Swedish in 2005, a year after author Stieg Larsson died.

The book is being translated from the Swedish title Det som inte dödar oss – or What Doesn’t Kill You – with a high level of secrecy. Consequently, we don’t have any plot details as yet, but according to the official Stieg Larsson website, Mikael Blomkvist and Lisbeth Salander both appear in the book.

How this book is received by fans of the series will be very interesting indeed. It has been written with the approval of Larsson’s estate but without that of Eva Gabrielsson, his partner of 30 years. The latter claims to have a 200-page manuscript written by Larsson himself which continues the story but which she says she will never publish.

British publisher Christopher MacLehose said: “David Lagercrantz is not only a distinguished novelist, he is an exceptional storyteller. His Millennium novel brilliantly prolongs the story of Lisbeth Salander and of Mikael Blomqvist.”

David Lagercrantz, who apparently wrote the book on a computer disconnected from the internet in order to keep its content absolutely secret, is a Swedish journalist. Like Stieg Larsson, he covered crime. He’s written several books, including one about the code breaker Alan Turing as well as the biography of footballer Zlatan Ibrahimovich. His book will be translated into over 30 languages.

Alongside the new book, MacLehose is republishing The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest with new coordinated covers. The series has sold over 80 million copies worldwide and the books were turned into three Swedish films. In 2011, Hollywood director David Fincher made The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in English starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara.

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