The king of crime Harlan Coben on why gruesome murder isn’t the key to his phenomenal success

Harlan Coben is the king of crime. He has sold more than 80 million books, his TV dramas are world hits and production companies are asking him to come up with more ideas. Interestingly, he’s not a fan of killing people. Even when people die in his thrillers, they don’t always stay dead.

In Safe, his first drama for Netflix, he focused on a missing teenager who turns up alive. His latest book I Will Find You follows a father whose son – whom he has convicted of murder – may not be dead after all, while his next Netflix drama Fool Me Once is about a husband who should be dead but is up a baby reappears monitor.

“I find disappearances more interesting than murder because there’s hope in it,” says Harlan, 61, from New Jersey. That’s the dynamic I like.”

Filming on Fool Me Once began earlier this year in Manchester – his latest show in which he translates an American story into a British setting.

The show is being made with It’s A Sin producer Nicola Schindler, who first convinced him his stories could be retold here. Their first project together, The Five in 2016, was set in North West Britain and was a hit.

Harlan Coben (pictured) has sold more than 80 million books. His TV dramas are worldwide hits and he has production companies asking him to come up with more ideas

New show stars Joanna Lumley, Michelle Keegan and Richard Armitage, who has become a fan favorite in the Coben world. This will be his third appearance in any of the dramas following Stay Close and The Stranger.

Joanna plays Michelle’s mother-in-law and Richard the husband believed dead.

“Since each of Richard’s roles is different, having him back works,” says Harlan. “We have a relationship that I cherish very much. And I think people will be surprised by Joanna in this role, it’s different for her. She is fantastic.”

Harlan’s television dramas are strikingly different from other crime stories.

Often set in gated mansions, they have an emerging aesthetic that feels more American than British, but he insists that doesn’t make them any less authentic.

“One of the funniest things is when people say to me, ‘Nobody lives in houses like that,’ and I say, ‘Well, these houses aren’t empty; people live in it.”

Harlan likes to work with a team he can trust – alongside Nicola, he co-writes with Brassic’s Danny Brocklehurst, but this time he’ll be without a key team member – his daughter Charlotte.

“She wrote one of the episodes of Fool Me Once, but she’s in such demand that she’s writing her own series,” he sighs. “As a father, I’m happy, but I’m also kind of sad to lose her.”

New show stars Joanna Lumley, Michelle Keegan and Richard Armitage, who has become a fan favorite in the Coben world. This will be his third appearance in any of the dramas, following Stay Close (pictured) and The Stranger.

Harlan’s hit series Gone For Good, based on his book, has been adapted into a five-part drama set in France

His other work with Netflix includes The Stranger, starring Jennifer Saunders (right) and The Woods, starring Hubert Milkowski (left).

Harlan is a co-writer and producer of his shows and was on set in England last month combined with a tour for his new book I Will Find You.

In this story, a father was jailed for killing his young son after a neighbor claimed to have seen him burying the murder weapon. Although he has a history of sleepwalking, he’s convinced he didn’t.

Harlan himself has four adult children with his wife Anne.

He became a life-changing literary sensation with his 2001 book Tell No One.

He is now valued at £20m but still puts out around one book a year.

In Safe (pictured), his first drama for Netflix, he focused on a missing teenager who turns up alive

His main television house is Netflix, with whom he has a 14-project deal, but he also has an unnamed project with Apple TV+. Shown, an archive image of a typewriter

“I grew up with a good work ethic. It’s like being a plumber, I wouldn’t suddenly decide, ‘I can’t do any more pipes.’

His main television house is Netflix, with whom he has a 14-project deal, but he also has an untitled project with Apple TV+ and a show in the works with Amazon Prime Video called Shelter, in which a school janitor learns his father may not be dead.

“I think part of the reason I don’t kill my loved ones is because I lost my parents at a fairly young age — they were both dead when they were my age,” he says.

“When a person dies there is no turning back, they will never be a part of your life again. So I think bringing back someone who is dead is great wish-fulfillment; Hope is a powerful thing.’

I Will Find You by Harlan Coben is now available in hardcover and eBook.