Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy may have ended but his legacy lives on.

If you’re one of the thousands who has decided not to wait for the US paperback edition of Stieg Larsson‘s The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest, and you’ve already finished the Millennium Trilogy in hardcover, then you may be wondering what to read next. Despite rumors of a fourth manuscript left behind after Larsson’s death there are no plans for a further release on the horizon, so the chances are that you’ll be suffering from Lisbeth Salander Withdrawal.

Fear not, though – for there are plenty of similar authors to dip into if you still need your fix of dark, disturbing crime – and even a few with that familiar Scandinavian twist. If you haven’t already seen them, it’s also worth checking out the movies of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest. They may never quite live up to the books, but all three are good films in their own right. Those of you who prefer not to read subtitles can even wait for the release of David Fincher’s English-language remake of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, due in December 2011.

If you’d rather enjoy the written word, however, then you’ll want to check out the following writers:

Henning Mankell. Before there was Stieg Larsson Sweden already had Henning Mankell, and his excellent crime novels are the perfect Band-Aid for pining Millennium Trilogy fans. Most feature Inspector Kurt Wallander, Mankell’s main protagonist. The novels often have a similar shocking nature to Larsson’s, and some of them even deal with similar themes – including the rise of nationalism and violence against women.

The series starts with Faceless Killers, but if you want to jump straight in then Sidetracked is one of his best. There is also currently a BBC adaptation that has been screened by PBS.

Jo Nesbo. Nesbo is Norwegian rather than Swedish, but if you’re still craving some Scandinavian crime then he’s certainly worth your time. His characters may not consume as many sandwiches and cups of coffee as Larsson’s, but he’s won a host of awards in Norway, and he was nominated for an Edgar Award in 2010.

His Harry Hole novels start with The Bat Man, or if you want to jump in midway then check out the multi-award winning Nemesis. Either way, Nesbo is one of the genre’s rising stars, so expect to hear his name a lot over the next twelve months.

Val McDermid. OK, so the British Crime Queen isn’t Swedish or Norwegian… but if you enjoyed Larsson’s dark, twisted take on crime fiction then McDermid should be your next stop. Her Dr. Tony Hill novels have been made into the British crime series Wire In The Blood, but the TV show barely touches on her disturbing imagination.

If you want to see what I mean, get your hands on a copy of her award-winning The Mermaids Singing, and find out why she’s so highly regarded in international crime writing circles.

If you have any further suggestions for Larsson-friendly reading then please share them in the comments below. The Millennium Trilogy may have finished, but hopefully publishers have learned their lesson – expect more Dragon Tattoo-style novels in the near future.