This book has a really nice pacing and generally a very good style for a mystery novel. There is perhaps too much emphasis on Swedish recent history (at least for those of us not familiar) and plenty of "message", but that rarely detracts from the story and the pacing of the story.The main focus is clearly on mistreatment of woman in Sweden; but, it is not preachy or anything. My chief issue with it is that it is really pretty gruesome in places. It is hard to put down for the story as it is very engaging, but some of the descriptions are really hard to read. I am not sure that much detail was needed.If you can get past that, the character development of one of the main two characters (Lisbeth) is really amazing - she is Autistic or Asbergers or something (although the author does not say that, the symptoms are well described). The character development of the other main character is not as well developed, but he is more than a cardboard character.The process of the story unfolding is very nicely done with paths colliding. The reader is no farther along than the characters, unlike many mysteries where you get extra clues they do not. This means that you get pulled along with them vs. being apart from them. This works very well in this story.I think it is a great read. 

Question: What is the excitement level in the ending?
Answer: The main focus is clearly on mistreatment of woman in Sweden