Val McDermid
Val McDermid
Val McDermidis a Scottish crime writer, best known for a series of suspense novels featuring Dr. Tony Hill...
NationalityScottish
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth4 June 1955
austen baby books family gone jane love matter money reasons throwing today universal
One of the reasons we all still read Jane Austen is because her books are about universal things which still matter today - love, money, family. They haven't gone out of fashion, so it's not throwing the baby out with the bathwater to rework her in a contemporary style.
benevolent government looking next
Why do the police need to know where I am? In the hands of a benevolent government, they could be looking after your interests, but what if the next government isn't so benevolent?
mitchell quite time
I did want to be Joni Mitchell for quite a long time.
ruth written
I said to Ruth Rendell, 'When you've written as many books as you have, it's easier.' She said, 'No dear, it gets harder'.
ended few quite
The thing is that quite a few of my books have ended up as they are because of conversations I've had over the years with forensic scientists.
works
Walking by water frees your creativity. I don't know how it works - there's something about it that's liberating.
diminish people tv
A lot of reality TV is repellent, but that doesn't diminish the qualities of some of the people who take part. There are decent people in there who have no alternatives.
austen builds endgame gets jane
I think Jane Austen builds suspense well in a couple of places, but she squanders it, and she gets to the endgame too quickly. So I will be working on those things.
crime draw general good group looking means nature novel social society vehicle wide
I think that crime is a good vehicle for looking at society in general because the nature of the crime novel means that you draw on a wide group of social possibilities.
books demanded time written
I was always writing the books that I wanted to write, books that demanded to be written at the time. But, like most writers, you start off feeling your way.
dentist heroines
No woman is a heroine to her dentist.
elephants remember
He frowned as he struggled to remember. It was like watching an elephant crochet.