Hmmm…same haiku as for the first book, mostly because I don’t want to come up with another.

My enjoyment of these books decreased significantly during the second book. As new characters were introduced and pieces were put into place for a new mystery to solve, there were many scenes that felt contrived and gratuitously sexual – meet a new character, have them hook up with someone, rinse, repeat. Also, though perhaps the author was attempting to present a new-found confidence within Lisbeth after the events of book one, I was unsettled as he kept describing her body in detail – how it looked naked, how it looked in her new clothes, how it looked when she moved. After discussing this with a friend, we also realized that the audiobook version, with a male narrator, might have emphasized this discomfort. But, once I lost my trust in the author, it wasn’t something that could be regained.

Once the story started moving, it was definitely compelling. But I didn’t plan to keep reading the series after this. (Of course, this book ended on a bit of cliffhanger, and the story was wrapped up in book three. I couldn’t resist, but after THAT book, I’m not going to continue with this author.)