I would never have been a novelist without working as a psychologist...it was a great education in human nature.

All of us are like locks. No matter how strong the bolt, there’s always a key out there that opens it.

Time spent researching varies from book to book. Some novels require months, even years of research, others very little. I try to do most of my research before I begin but inevitably questions emerge during the writing.

The science of psychotherapy is knowing what to say, the art is knowing when to say it. (36)

40 Words for Sorrow is brilliant-one of the finest crime novels I've ever read. Giles Blunt writes with uncommon grace, style and compassion and he plots like a demon. This book has it all-unforgettable characters, beautiful language, throat-constricting suspense.

The characters emerge from my rather twisted mind. That's another enjoyable part of the job making stuff up.

His experience and training should have taught him that families are the cauldrons in which violence is brewed. (144)