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

I am a very radical person - as radical now as I was when I was younger. So my books all have in common my search for understanding of the terrible world we are living in and ways to change it.

You think you know everything about a person, but the truth often comes as a surprise.

For me Oliver Twist is a political novel. It is a furious critique of the treatment of orphans and poor children who were forced to spend their early lives in ghastly institutions.

It’s only when we can work with something that brings out our strengths that we’re of any real use.

Sweden is still a very peaceful country to live in. I think that people in Britain have created this mythology about Sweden, that it's a perfect democratic society full of erotically charged girls.

I think my Wallander stories give a fairly good image of the world in the 1990s. I don't regret anything about that - on the contrary!