I'd been a thriller reader all my life.

You see something scary, you should stand up and step toward it, not away from it. Instinctively, reflexively, in a raging fury.

I write in the afternoon, from about 12 until 6 or 7. I use an upstairs room as my office. Once I get going I keep at it, and it usually takes about six months from the first blank screen until 'The End.

British crime stories tend to be very internal, psychological, claustrophobic, very limited in terms of geography.

I think my books come out very visual, which is an obvious consequence.

I know I'm smarter than an armadillo

Slippery slope. I carry a spare shirt, pretty soon I'm carrying spare pants. Then I'd need a suitcase. Next thing I know, I've got a house and a car and a savings plan and I'm filling out all kinds of forms.