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1986: Stieg Larsson’s investigation of the Swedish PM’s murder
The Man Who Played with Fire
What you need to know before your trail
When Stieg Larsson died, the author of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo had been working on a true mystery that out-twisted his Millennium novels: the assassination on February 28, 1986, of Olof Palme, the Swedish prime minister. It was the first time in history that a head of state had been murdered without a clue who’d done it—and on a Stockholm street at point-blank range.
Internationally known for his fictional villains, Larsson was well acquainted with their real-life counterparts and documented extremist activities throughout the world. For years he’d been amassing evidence that linked their terrorist acts to what he called “one of the most astounding murder cases” he’d ever covered. Larsson’s archive was forgotten until journalist Jan Stocklassa was given exclusive access to the author’s secret project.
Locations
Reset- Sweden - Stockholm
- A: Sveavägen - Scene of the crime
- B: Olof Palmes Grave
- C: Swedish parliament
Travel Guide
The murder of Olaf Palme in Stockholm 1986
Sven Olof Joachim Palme ( 30 January 1927 – 28 February 1986) was a Swedish politician and served as special mediator of the United Nations in the Iran–Iraq War. Frequently a critic of United States and Soviet foreign policy, he was fiercly opposed to the regimes of Francisco Franco of Spain, and Leonid Brezhnev of the Soviet Union, to name but two. His 1972 condemnation of the Hanoi bombings, ( he referred to it as being like the Treblinka extermination camp) led to a temporary freeze in Sweden–United States relations.
Palme’s murder on a Stockholm street on 28 February 1986 was the first assassination of a national leader in Sweden since Gustav III. The crime has never been solved and has been the subject of many conspiracy theories.
Booktrail Boarding Pass: The Man Who Played with Fire
Destination/location: Stockholm Author/Guide: Jan Stocklassa Departure Time: 1986
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