On June 8, 1965, Karin Anna Alvtegen was born in Huskvarna, in Sweden. Her parents are teachers, and she is the middle one of three children. Today she is the oldest one, since her brother Magnus died in '93.

The emotional rollercoaster this event plunged her into (she was even away from work for several months) lead a few years later to a story she woke up with, and she started writing, almost as a therapy. This heralded the birth of her first novel, Guilt.

Her writing career started as a writer for a soap-opera, but today she is best known for the thrillers she writes. For "Missing" she won the "Glasnyckeln" prize in 2001.