I Wasn't That Into Crime Novels At

Ever Since The '70s, Maj Sjowall And Per Wahloo Were The Godfathers Of Scandinavian Crime. They Broke The Crime Novel In Scandinavia From The Kiosks And Into The Serious Bookstores.

The Only Pressure I Feel Is To Write Good Books. And To Not Replicate The Previous Book. Whether You Have A Thousand Readers Or A Million Readers It Doesn't Change The Pressure. I Never Feel Tempted To Give The Reader What I Think The Reader Wants.

It Was As If The Demise Of The Owner Had Lent The Flat A Physical Void It Hadn't Had Before. At The Same Time He Had The Feeling That He Wasn't Alone. Harry Believed In The Existence Of The Soul. Not That He Was Particularly Religious As Such, But It Was One Thing Which Always Struck Him When He Saw A Dead Body: The Body Was Bereft Of Something...the Creature Had Gone, The Light Had Gone,there Was Not The Illusory Afterglow That Long-since Burned-out Stars Have. The Body Was Missing Its Soul And It Was The Absence Of The Soul That Made Harry Believe.

You Get Spoiled As A Novelist Because You Get To Be The Director And The Editor, And You Play All The Parts, But As A Screenwriter, You Are A Bit Down The Ladder.

Many Scandinavian Writers Who Had Made Their Name In Literary Fiction Felt They Wanted To Have A Go At The Crime Novel To Show They Could Compete With The Best. If Salman Rushdie Had Been Norwegian, He Would Definitely Have Written At Least One Thriller.