Crimson Lake
crime thriller
Series · Nordic noir
Rekke and Vargas
The Rekke and Vargas series by David Lagercrantz has 3 known books (3 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with Dark Music (2022). The latest book with a fully recorded publication date is Post Mortem. David Lagercrantz wrote the series; books 1-3 were translated by Ian Giles.
- Books
- 3 known books (3 novels)
- Published
- 3
- First published
- 2022
- Status
- ongoing
- Shelved under
- Mystery & Crime, Thriller
- Last checked
Start here: Dark Music (2022) — then read straight through in publication order.
Reading order
The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.
- Book 1:
Dark Music
Dark Music opens David Lagercrantz's Rekke and Vargas series, first published in Swedish in 2022 and translated into English by Ian Giles. It's the series' starting point, followed by Fatal Gambit in an ongoing series that has run since 2022.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Dark Music - Book 2:
Fatal Gambit
Fatal Gambit is the second book in David Lagercrantz's Rekke and Vargas series, translated into English by Ian Giles and published in August 2024 at 400 pages. It follows Dark Music and precedes Post Mortem in the reading order.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Fatal Gambit - Book 3:
Post Mortem
Post Mortem is the third book in David Lagercrantz's Rekke and Vargas series, translated into English by Ian Giles. Due for publication in August 2026 at 320 pages, it follows Fatal Gambit as the latest entry in this ongoing series.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Post Mortem
About the Rekke and Vargas series
Hans Rekke is a brilliant, erratic professor of interrogation psychology -- a world authority on reading suspects and detecting lies, and prone to breakdowns and self-destructive behaviour off the clock. Micaela Vargas is a young Stockholm police detective from a rough immigrant background, sharp and instinctive but boxed out of the cases she wants by department politics. When their paths cross on a case neither can solve alone, David Lagercrantz pairs them into a deliberately Holmes-and-Watson-inflected duo: Rekke's dazzling, unstable genius against Vargas's grounded procedural know-how.
Having already spent three novels continuing Stieg Larsson's Millennium series, Lagercrantz built Rekke and Vargas as a series fully his own, openly modelled on Arthur Conan Doyle's Holmes and Watson but relocated to contemporary Stockholm and the immigrant suburbs Vargas grew up in. The result leans further into psychological deduction and class tension than Millennium's corporate-conspiracy plotting, while keeping the same brisk, propulsive Scandinavian-thriller pacing.
Frequently asked questions
Who writes the Rekke and Vargas series?
David Lagercrantz wrote the series; books 1-3 were translated by Ian Giles.
How many Rekke and Vargas books are there?
Three so far: Dark Music (2022), Fatal Gambit (2024) and Post Mortem (2026).
Is this the same series as Millennium?
No. Rekke and Vargas is a separate series David Lagercrantz created after finishing his three Millennium continuation novels, with new lead characters and no connection to Mikael Blomkvist or Lisbeth Salander.
Is Rekke and Vargas inspired by Sherlock Holmes?
Yes -- publishers describe the series as directly inspired by Holmes and Watson, with Professor Hans Rekke's dazzling but unstable deductive genius paired against police detective Micaela Vargas's grounded procedural instincts.
Is the Rekke and Vargas series finished?
No, it's ongoing. Post Mortem (2026) is the most recent novel and no fourth book has been announced yet.
If you like the Rekke and Vargas series
Reading order last verified .