I grew up in London under Thatcher and that really was disgusting. A feeding frenzy.

Crime is a very hard genre to feminise. If you have a female protagonist she is going to be looking after her mum when she gets older; she is going to be worried about her brother and sister; she will be making a living while bringing up kids.

There's a real emphasis on being witty in Scotland, even in crime novels.

None of us know what is going to sell or what people want to read.

I always wanted to work at Take A Break magazine, you know, just to inject a little bit of politics into their stories. I applied for a job there after I'd done my law degree and didn't even get an interview. I only wrote Garnethill because I didn't get that job!

Usually when I'm trying to establish character, I try and find out where they live.

I think graphic novels are closer to prose than film, which is a really different form.