Sad Water , which she is currently writing, is set in England. She has made two research trips to England for it. On the first trip, she drove around the moors and towns of her setting taking notes, pictures, and video camera footage. On the second trip, she focused on research for the plot. For instance, because there is a fire in Sad Water , Holbrook arranged an interview with an arson investigator.
Most people are very generous with their time.
When she is looking for reference books, Holbrook will ask experts what books they studied from or what books they recommend. When setting a book in her home territory, Holbrook does not need to study the area's dialects. But for her books set in England, Holbrook conducts dialect research. That's something you can only do if you are fairly comfortable with it. She plays them over and over in her head as she creates dialogue.