Thoughts on Crime Fiction

Michael:

"I read crime fiction for pleasure, as well as books on European history and, less frequently, biography. Just to give the reader an idea - I recently read a wonderful account of the Peninsular Wars in nineteenth century Spain - The Man Who Broke Napoleon's Codes by Mark Urban (Faber & Faber, 2001). I want bodies, blood and violent emotions in what I read. Why bother reading, otherwise? Life's too short, and my days of studying are long gone. When Daniela and I have an idea for a book, we tend to spend a lot of energy reading around the subject. That means learning about the historical background, the specific events in the time-period that we intend to use in the novel, the general 'tone' of daily life in that era, and just about anything else that might prove useful or relevant. That doesn't mean that we are poaching ideas, but we are trying to gauge what is, and what isn't, feasible or probable within the particular historical context that we have chosen for that specific novel..."