I think the negative traits are what makes us love other human beings, the foibles and the flaws.

A man who thinks he has a higher purpose can do terrible things, even to those he professes to love.

I'd read so much right-wing crime fiction where they find the evidence and shoot the bad guy - I thought there must be another approach.

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.

I respond very well to rules. If there are certain parameters it's much easier to do something really good. Especially when readers know what those are. They know what to expect and then you have to wrong-foot them. That is the trick of crime fiction. And readers come to crime and graphic novels wanting to be entertained, or disgusted.

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

I think the negative traits are what makes us love other human beings, the foibles and the flaws.