In Sweden, we've moved away from the notion that mothers have some magical, special bond with children.

Northern Sweden holds a special kind of magic. It's cold, lonely, and the people are tough and silent, or so the stereotype says. This is Asa Larsson's home turf and I find as much joy in reading her closely observed descriptions of the environment, as in following her intriguing plots.

People in Sweden talk a lot about the weather - how much we hate it. But Finns get more depressed.

I don't feel the need to prove myself by writing the next generational novel.

I do listen to Abba. And a lot of '80s and '90s pop music.

The pace of Swedish crime fiction is slower - Stieg Larsson's the exception. And I think we use the environment more.