A Q&A with Quintin Jardine
Some questions from Mike Stafford, some answers from Quentin jardine, author of Grievous Angel.
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Skinner revisits his nightmares: old but not forgotten. Fifteen years in the past, newly promoted Detective Superintendent Bob Skinner is called to investigate a most brutal death. A man lies at the deep end of an empty swimming pool, his neck broken and almost every other bone in his body shattered. Soon, an organised crime connection looms, and bloody retribution spreads to a second city. Then violence erupts on a new front, as a vicious knifeman seems to be targeting Edinburgh’s gay population. As if this double dose of homicide isn’t enough for a single man with a teenage daughter to raise and protect, Skinner’s personal life takes a similar, perilous twist. Can he stay on the side of the angels, or will he fall…?
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Bookdagger: What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever been given (and do you follow it)?
Quintin Jardine: Never end a sentence with a preposition. (No, I don’t.)
BD: Which authors do you find most inspiring as a writer?
QJ: Robert Louis Stevenson, Dashiell Hammett, St John the Apostle.
BD: Do you have an audience in mind when writing, or do you just write for yourself?
QJ: The latter, I’m afraid; If I had anyone else in mind, I might be inclined to compromise. I’ve never found myself asking, ‘Would my readers like this?’ Instead I ask, ‘Do I believe this?’
BD: Where do you write, and why?
QJ: In my office, because it’s the space that suits me best.
BD: Tell us the book you most wish you had written.
QJ: Treasure Island.
BD: What led you to do a Skinner prequel/flashback novel?
QJ: When I finished A Rush of Blood, Skinner 20, I paused for breath and took a broad look at the series. This led me to realise that while I knew quite a bit about most of the major characters, the one of whom I knew least was Skinner himself. I began to correct this in The Loner, a standalone novel in which Bob features briefly, and that led me to the decision to him a little further back in time in Grievous Angel. Alongside that, I’d wanted for a while to do a first person cop book, since they’re rarities in the genre. Eventually I decided that a prequel would be the best way for me to do this, and to give Skinner more of aback story in the process.
BD: After 21 appearances, what do you think is the secret of Bob Skinner’s enduring popularity?
QJ: No, what do I hope is the secret. I hope that it’s because he’s different, a high-flyer who’s already flown, rather than a mid-ranking detective with a 100% clear-up rate but no promotion prospects. (Also, he makes money for my publishers.)
BD: For the 22nd book, will you be continuing chronologically from the end of Grievous Angel, or returning to the present day?
QJ: Wrong tense; it’s finished already, and it’s contemporary.
BD: TV development discussions are on underway on the Skinner series. Do you have a view on who would be best to play the lead?
QJ: A very firm view; Idris Elba. He’s the best TV actor around at the moment, and in an adaptation, that’s the person you want. All other issues, accent, ethnicity, etc, take second place.
BD: What do you see as the biggest changes in Scottish crime fiction since you started writing?
QJ: There appears to be more of it about. Why? In my opinion, the emergence, and well-deserved success, of Ian Rankin and Val McDermid, prompted a generation of Scots to try their hands at the genre. Incidentally, I don’t count myself among their number. Val and Ian were both in print before me, but I had never heard of either of them until after Skinner’s Rules was published. I started to write, because my wife challenged/ordered me to do so, beginning of story, end of story.
