The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Tartan noir
Lin Anderson is a Tartan Noir crime novelist and screenwriter, while also being known for co-founding the Bloody Scotland crime-writing festival
Crime novellist Lin Anderson, creator of forensic scientist Rhona MacLeod and co-founder of Bloody Scotland.
Q What drives you most in life?
A The next book.
Q What makes you happy?
A When the ideas and words flow.
Q What brought you to crime writing?
A As a young reader I was a big fan of The Famous Five mysteries and, of course, Robert Louis Stevenson. As I grew older I devoured novels by Agatha Christie and PD James. Then I found Willie McIllvanney’s Laidlaw and that was the inspiration.
Q Favourite book?
A To Kill A Mockingbird (It’s a coming of age, a mystery, social commentary and a crime all rolled into one. Plus it has a strong female character centre stage).
Q What is it about Scottish landmarks that make good crime sites?
I’ve lived all over Scotland. Lowlands, Highlands and Islands, plus both Glasgow and Edinburgh. For me, the location is a big character in the Rhona books. The location and its weather determine everything about the investigation. For example, you can’t erect a forensic tent in Orkney, no matter the time of year, because it will simply blow away.
Q Which writers, alive or dead, inspire you?
A Willie McIllvanney, Val McDermid, Robert Louise Stevenson.
Q What was your plan B, careerwise?
A I was a teacher for more than 20 years, teaching maths then computing science. So I did plan B first, until I eventually decided it was time for plan A!
Q Theme song for your life?
A Eddi Reader singing anything by Burns.
Q Last meal on earth?
A I love haggis.
Q Dream dinner party guests?
A A dozen close friends.
Q If you could rule for a day, what would be the first thing you’d do?
A A day wouldn’t be long enough for the changes I’d like to promote.
Q First thing you’d do if you won £1 million?
A It would be miraculous if I did because I never buy a ticket. If that miracle happened, I’d try to do something lasting with it. I was in the very first Carnegie Library, in Dunfermline, recently. It is utterly beautiful and an amalgamation of the original building and the new. Now that was the way to spend money.
Q Tell us something about yourself that most people don’t know?
A I’m a wild swimmer.
Q Favourite holiday destination?
A Cannes. Q What was the last book you read?
A Professor Jim Al-Khalili’s Sunfall. A proof copy, as I’m chairing him at Edinburgh Science Festival and it’s not published yet. Let me just say it’s fabulous.
Q What makes you happy?
A A log fire, a walk through the Carrbridge woods and reading with my granddaughter.
Q What makes you sad?
A When people are less than kind.
Q What was the first album you ever bought?
A James Taylor’s Sweet Baby James.
Q What is the best advice you have ever received?
A Be kind, be kind, be kind.
Q What are you proudest of?
A My kids are nice people. Plus they all get on with one another.
Q Who do you admire most?
A My late father who was a DI in Greenock and who inspired a character in my books
Q Advice for your younger self?
A Celebrate being tall!