Content Warning: The Chapter Summaries and Analyses section of the guide contains discussions of sexual assault, torture, and the killing of animals.

Every November 1, an unnamed man receives a cryptic package in the mail. For decades, someone has been sending him a pressed flower on his birthday. The species of flower differs every year, but the size of the frame and the handwriting on the envelope remain the same. At 82 years old, he still has no idea of the sender’s identity. Over the phone, he shares the mysterious ritual with Detective Superintendent Morell, a retired policeman, and one of the few remaining people interested in the puzzle since it began in 1967. Despite efforts to trace the postmark and decipher clues about the flowers’ origins, “The Case of the Pressed Flowers” remains unsolved.

Mikael Blomkvist is a 42-year-old respected journalist dedicated to exposing corruption in the banking and business world. On the morning of December 20, he loses a libel suit brought against him by billionaire Hans-Erik Wennerström and faces a three months prison sentence and 150,000 kronor in damages. Blomkvist endures the scrutiny of his highly publicized fall from Millennium, the political magazine that he co-owns, and where he works as both writer and publisher.