When Karin Slaughter (1971) decides to write a new thriller, how she does it already sounds like the opening chapter of one of her novels. She retreats for weeks on end in a small cabin somewhere in the Georgia woods and sees or talks to no one until the book is finished. This recipe has proven itself with a blood curdling series of thrillers that have been sold more than 40 million times in 120 countries, rightly earning her the nickname ‘Queen of Crime’.

Visitors of BorderKitchen have a scoop: the Dutch translation of her latest book has rolled off the press the day before.