5 MINUTES WITH…

BESTSELLING CRIME NOVELIST VAL MCDERMID’S NEW NOVEL

(LITTLE, BROWN) IS OUT ON AUGUST 24.

Insidious Intent IN A NUTSHELL? TONY HILL AND CAROL JORDAN’S TENTH OUTING BEGINS WITH A BODY IN A BURNING CAR, BUT THE VICTIM WAS DEAD BEFORE THE FIRE STARTED. YOU’LL NEVER FEEL THE SAME ABOUT GOING TO A WEDDING AGAIN.

WHAT INSPIRED THE PLOT?

A FRIEND IS A SPECIALIST IN FIRE AND EXPLOSIVES, AND WE HAD BEEN DISCUSSING FIRE IN ENCLOSED SPACES. THAT STARTED THE WHEELS TURNING. THEN A FRIEND MENTIONED THAT THREE COUPLES WHO HAD BEEN AT HER WEDDING SPLIT UP WEEKS LATER, AND I STARTED TO CONSIDER WHAT MIGHT BE PRECIPITATED BY THE ATMOSPHERE OF A WEDDING.

HOW DID THE TONY AND CAROL SERIES ORIGINATE?

I WANTED TO EXPLORE THE

IDEA OF HOW A PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILER MIGHT INTERACT WITH THE POLICE. I THOUGHT THERE WOULD BE LOTS OF TENSIONS, ESPECIALLY IF I MADE THE COP A WOMAN AND THE PROFILER A MAN. THIS WAS IN 1995 – NO ONE IN THE UK WAS WRITING ABOUT PROFILING THEN.

WHY ARE YOU ATTRACTED TO LIFE’S DARK SIDE? I HAVE NO IDEA; I DON’T HAVE AN UNSPOKEN CHILDHOOD TRAUMA. BUT I DID DISCOVER AGATHA CHRISTIE AT AN EARLY AGE, WHICH LED ME INTO

THE PATHS OF CRIME. IS THERE ANYTHING YOU WOULDN’T WRITE ABOUT? I WOULDN’T BASE A NOVEL ON A REAL CASE BECAUSE I SAW TOO MUCH GENUINE GRIEF AMONG THE BEREAVED WHEN I WAS A JOURNALIST.

HAVE ANY CRIME WRITERS INFLUENCED YOU? CHRISTIE, RUTH RENDELL, REGINALD HILL, AND SARA PARETSKY, FOR SHOWING ME A FEMALE DETECTIVE WITH BRAINS AND HUMOUR.

WHAT NEXT? A GRAPHIC NOVEL, A PLAY... AND NEXT YEAR’S BOOK SEES THE RETURN OF COLD CASE DETECTIVE KAREN PIRIE.