Elsebeth Egholm (born 17 September 1960) is a Danish journalist and best-selling author who writes mainly

crime fiction Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

novels. She is known internationally as the creator of the television series ''

Those Who Kill ''Those Who Kill'' ( da, Den som dræber) is a Danish crime TV series from 2011, which follows a fictitious unit within Copenhagen Police which specialises in investigating serial murders. The series was aired as five two-part stories in Denmar ...

''.

Early life

Born in

Nyborg Nyborg is a city in central Denmark, located in Nyborg Municipality on the island of Funen and with a population of 17,525 (2022). It is the easternmost settlement on Funen. By road, it is located 34 km east of Odense, 35 km north of ...

on the Danish island of

Funen Funen ( da, Fyn, ), with an area of , is the third-largest island of Denmark, after Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy. It is the 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 469,947 as of ...

, she grew up in

Lisbjerg Lisbjerg is a village and suburb 7 km north of the city center of Aarhus, Denmark. Lisbjerg has a population of 1,063 (1 January 2022). Lisbjerg is situated on the northern slopes of the broad and flat valley of Egådalen, marking the north ...

near

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwest ...

, where her parents had a garden centre. After schooling in Aarhus, she matriculated from the

state gymnasium State Gymnasium is an arena on the campus of Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. It was opened in 1913, and once was the school's primary indoor athletic facility, before the opening of Hilton Coliseum. It is located at the corner of Union Dr ...

in Hasle. She went on to study piano at the Music Conservatory of Jutland, where she remained for four years before switching to journalism at the Danish School of Journalism (''Journalisthøjskolen'') in 1985.

Career

After an apprenticeship with '' Berlinske Tidende'' in Copenhagen, she worked as a background reporter for the newspaper until 1992, when she quit and moved to

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. There she worked both as a freelance journalist and as a short story writer for women's magazines such as ''Alt for Damerne''. On the Maltese island of

Gozo Gozo (, ), Maltese: ''Għawdex'' () and in antiquity known as Gaulos ( xpu, 𐤂𐤅𐤋, ; grc, Γαῦλος, Gaúlos), is an island in the Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. The island is part of the Republic of Malta. After t ...

, she met her future husband, British thriller author Philip Nicholson, with whom she lived until his death in 2005. Her first major success was ''De frie kvinders klub'' (The Free Women's Club) in 1999, followed by ''Scirocco'' and ''Mig og min ø'' (Me and My Island) in 2000 and ''Opium'' in 2001, addressing the problems of marriage in a background of international intrigue. Her series featuring the journalist Dicte Svendsen began in 2002 with ''Skjulte Fejl og Mangler'' (Hidden Errors), continuing with ''Selvrisiko'' (Own Risk), ''Personskade'' (Personal Damage), ''Nærmeste Pårørende'' (Next of Kin), ''Liv og Legeme'' (2008), and ''Vold og magt'' (2009). By this time, her novels were also being published in Germany, Holland, Sweden and Norway. Translations into English include ''Life and Limb'' (2012) ''Next of Kin'', ''Three Dog Night'' (2013) and ''Dead Souls'' (2014). In 2018 Egholm was awarded the

Harald Mogensen Prize The Harald Mogensen Prize (Danish ''Harald Mogensen-prisen'') is a Danish literary award for detective novels awarded by the Danish Criminal Academy (''Det danske Kriminalakademi'', DKA). It was founded in 2006 and was first awarded in 2007. It is ...

by the Danish Criminal Academy (''Det danske Kriminalakademi'', DKA) for her novel ''I always find you''.

Television

The 10-episode television series ''Those Who Kill'' (2012), first broadcast in Denmark as ''Dem som dræber'' (2011), tells how police detective Katrina Ries Jensen investigates several gruesome murders with strange psychological overtones. '' Dicte'', a series based on several of Egholm's books, was first broadcast in Denmark in 2013. It is centred in Aarhus, Egholm's home town.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Egholm, Elsebeth 1960 births Danish crime fiction writers People from Aarhus People from Nyborg Danish women screenwriters Living people Danish women writers Women crime fiction writers Berlingske people