The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo by Stieg Larsson

A disgraced journalist gets hired by an elderly Swedish financier to write his family's history. The project is a cover for the financier's real motive which is to solve the mystery of what happened to his niece who disappeared thirty years before. The journalist knew he was dealing with a dysfunctional family but even so is horrified by what he discovers. Along the way he enters an association with an odd young woman named Lisbeth Salander whose research skills do much to keep the plot moving along. Lisbeth ("The Girl" of the title) is the most interesting character in this novel and she appears again in two following novels that make up a trilogy. Larsson died in 2004 at age 50 and his novels are being published posthumously. Lots of characters to keep track of but a fun read.