It was a clear, starry night, dead calm. Whenever I see a sky like that, I wish I could write music

When I was a very young author, I knew I needed to build myself a tower outside of Europe. Like when you're a hunter, and build towers to watch the animals move. I knew I would never understand the world without that perspective. I came to Africa for that rational reason, although I love Mozambique now.

Africa was the most exotic place I could conceive of - the end of the world - and I knew I would go there one day.

Police work wouldn't be possible without coffee," Wallander said. "No work would be possible without coffee." They pondered the importance of coffee in silence.

Poverty always looks the same, no matter where you come across it. The rich can always express their opulence by varying their lives. Different houses, clothes, cars. Or thoughts, dreams. But for the poor there is nothing but compulsory grayness, the only form of expression available to poverty.

Justice doesn't only mean that the people who commit crime are punished. It also means that we can never give up seeking the truth.

Many people say I smile more in Africa than in Sweden.