Crime stories are our version of sitting round a camp fire and telling tales. We enjoy being scared under safe circumstances. That's why there's no tradition of crime writing in countries that have wars.

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

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

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.

One of the things I'm really good at is procrastinating.

I've always viewed myself as a brand. When I started 10 years ago, that was very controversial. 'Marketing' and 'PR' were dirty words for the literary world, but that has changed. Once the book is finished, I want as many people as possible to read it.

Scandinavian crime fiction has become a great success all across the world and rightfully so. Sjowall and Wahloo ushered in a whole generation of Swedish crime writers, many of whom are now available in English.

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.