Reading Update: Hornets' Nests and Stupid Writers

Stieg Larsson The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest

Holy crap writer, Batman! This is the third of a series, but there is a limit to the number of characters you can stuff into a book before it explodes. By my count:

• Two heroes: Salander and Blomkvist
• Two main antagonists: Zalachenko and Niedermann
• The gang at Millenium magazine (3 or 4 active characters)
• The gang at SMP newspaper (4 or 5 active characters)
• The Stockholm police team (5 active characters?)
• The Goteborg police team (2 or 3 minor characters)
• The Bad secret police team (4 or 5 active characters, two of whom die during the book's action)
• The Good secret police team (2 active characters and 4 minor characters)
• The private security firm team (4 active characters)
• The hacker team (3 active characters so far)
• The motorcycle gang (3 active characters, one of whom dies during the book's action)
• The politicians (4 active characters: PM, Justice Minister, former PM, ambassador)
• The prosecuting attorney
• Salander's mentor Palmquist
• Salander's doctor Jonasson
• Salander's lawyer Giannini
• Random Kurds with speaking parts and personal histories: 2
• Berger's husband Beckmann (Is that his name?)
• ... And some others ... mumble mumble ...

Did I MISS ANYONE? IT'S ENTIRELY POSSIBLE!

Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you NOT SUPPOSED TO TELL THE MYSTERY AT THE BEGINNING OF A MYSTERY BOOK? Isn't NOT KNOWING the mystery supposed to be what drives you through the whole process of discovery kinda thing?

ARGH. Argy.

Seriously, how do you write a flawed but seriously interesting book, with a fascinating and thrilling main character, and then in the succeeding two books systematically destroy everything that was great about the first book (and character)? How? Why? Argh!