Hakan Nesser

“I was a late bloomer. I was 38 when my first book was out and 43 when my first crime novel was out. I had a story that could only be told as a crime story. I think the genre is good; it deals with the fundamental questions of life and death. The problem is there are too many bad crime stories.”

“If you want to start reading Swedish crime fiction, you have to start with Sjowall and Wahloo.”

“I am not a political writer. I agree with Stieg Larsson and Henning Mankell, who are social writers. I can't write in that fashion. I am not good enough for that. What I am interested in is family dramas and why we are doing bad things to each other and what our motives are.”

“I like the slow Scandinavian pace. I don't need cliffhangers in every chapter because I don't want to make a Hollywood movie out of it.”

“There are 195 crime books published in Sweden every year. You could cut that to 100 and keep the good ones.”

“You should never ask, 'What would the readers like now?' Instead, you should ask, 'What would I like if I was a reader?' And then you must trust your own mind.”

“A good story can travel in time and borders; it hits you no matter where you are.”

“It is difficult to survive as an author in Sweden, so for commercial success, it is good idea to write crime, get yourself translated, and live happily ever after.”

“Writing is a creative process, and you need to have the doors and windows of your mind open so that you have the possibility of change.”

“While I'm writing, I'm also the first reader, and I want to write a book where I'm excited about what happens next.”