Whether Rebus's 'skills' are ones his bosses would wish retained is a moot point, but it seems I have my 'get-in' clause should I need one.

You wouldn't think you could kill an ocean, would you? But we'll do it one day. That's how negligent we are.

My father was a slave to capitalist ideology. He didn't know what he was doing."
"You mean you went to an expensive school?

I don't have many friends. It's not because I'm a misanthrope. It's because I'm reserved. I'm self-contained. I get all my adventures in my head when I'm writing my books.

A lot of writers, especially crime writers, have an image that we think we're trying to keep up with. You've got to be seen as dark and slightly dangerous. But I'm not like that and I've realised that I don't need to put that on. People will buy the books whether they see a photo of you dressed in black or not.

Right from the very beginning, I knew I wanted to write palpably Scottish fiction.