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

Because I write a book a year, I always want to do one other project every year that's stimulating in a different way. It means you can be working but not using up your prose juice, you know?

To have a very strong opinion all the time is corrosive to a person's intellect. It becomes your default position.

I have two children. They are more fun than anything in the world, and it's more immediate fun than the hard slog of writing.

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

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

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