Stieg Larsson estate dispute drags on

A dispute between Stieg Larsson's familyand his longtime partner over the millions he earned posthumously from the Millennium trilogy remains unresolved after talks broke down.

Larsson's father and brother told AFP they have been in talks for six months without reaching a settlement.

Larsson died of a heart attack in 2004, before the release of his bestselling crime novels, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. The unlikely heroine of the trilogy is a pierced and tattooed social misfit who is adept at uncovering the secrets in a criminal's past.

The Swedish author and journalist lived for more than32 years with Eva Gabrielsson, but they werenot married and had no children. Larsson, 50, left no will. UnderSwedish law, his entire estate went to his father and brother.

According to Larsson's family, Gabrielsson has turned downoffers of up to $2.5 million of the books' proceeds. Gabrielsson said the family broke off talks "unilaterally."

The Millennium trilogy has sold more than 27 million copies worldwide, and there are also film royalties. A Swedish version of the The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo isa critical and commercial hit and Universal has bought film rights for an English-language version.