Stockholm - The multi-million dollar legal wrangling over the estate of the best-selling Swedish crime writer Stieg Larsson's estate took a new twist Monday - with a surprise offer of 20 million kronor (2.8 million dollars) to his long-time partner, Eva Gabrielsson.

Larsson, who died of a heart attack at age 50 in 2004, has scored posthumous success with his so-called Millennium Trilogy that has been translated into several languages including English and German.

The books have sold some 20 million copies in Europe. The Svenska Dagbladet daily estimated the royalties have generated some 130 million kronor.

Since Eva Gabrielsson and Larsson were never married - and Larsson did not have will - his estate was inherited by his father Erland and brother Joakim who live in Umea, northern Sweden.

The trio have since Larsson's death been unable to agree on how to administer his literary estate, and ties have been strained with Gabrielsson, who has been seen as the loser from the spat.

In an interview published Monday by Svenska Dagbladet, Joakim Larsson and his father rejected being labelled as greedy, saying they hoped a settlement would allow them to "move on."

Larsson's brother said Gabrielsson "was part of Stieg's life. She should have a secure life," he said of the offer.

Gabrielsson's initial reaction was that it was inapproriate to get an offer - or discuss it - via the media and referred queries to her lawyer, the online edition of Svenska Dagbladet said.

"The dispute concerns the administration of the literary rights," her lawyer Sara Pers-Krause said.

The parties have earlier agreed not to publish an unfinished book manuscript found in Larsson's laptop.

Larsson was before his death best known for reporting on extreme right-wing movements in Sweden and co-founder of the anti-racist magazine Expo in 1995. (dpa)