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

I'm terrified to get married. I'm not getting married till my gay friends can.

Even if people do wrong, we're social animals, so what can we do about stopping them doing the same things in future? Saying people are 'bad' or 'evil' is just an unwillingness to engage; an unwillingness to try to empathise. That sanctimonious attitude doesn't help anyone

Crime fiction is the fiction of social history. Societies get the crimes they deserve.

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.

Most of the people who write to me are really clever, really engaged. They just want to say that they have read my book and liked it.

Journalism is a Darwinian process.