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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.