"The Lighthouse"

by Hilde Vandermeeren

"A psychologist and former teacher, Belgian author Hilde Vandermeeren authored more than forty books for children—winning a Silver Granger, a Boekenleeuw, a White Raven and other literary prizes—before producing her first crime novel Als alles duister wordt (When Darkness Falls) in 2013. The book won the Hercule Poirot Public Award. A second thriller, De toeschouwer (The Witness), followed in 2014, and a third, Stille grond (Silent Ground), in 2015."

Since I began translating for EQMM's "Partners in Crime" department in 2004, this is only the second time one of my translations has been featured on the magazine's cover. (The first time was Tessa de Loo's "The Candy Factory Girls" in 2009.)

Two months later, I read the story for EQMM's May 2016 podcast. And in April of 2017, it was chosen as one of five finalists for the Short Mystery Fiction Society's Derringer Award in the "Best Short Story" category.

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