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We haven't had crime writers, and for a long time in the Republic, we didn't seem to have a crime problem as such.

Crime is a very hard genre to feminise. If you have a female protagonist she is going to be looking after her mum when she gets older; she is going to be worried about her brother and sister; she will be making a living while bringing up kids.

Traditionally in crime fiction, women exist as a bedroom convenience or to screw up in order that the plot may progress. I wanted no part of that.

In fact, for all kinds of offenses - and, for no offenses - from murders to misdemeanors, men and women are put to death without judge or jury; so that, although the political excuse was no longer necessary, the wholesale murder of human beings went on just the same.

The queen of crime, Agatha Christie, was always more concerned about the clockwork cleverness of the plot, never the investigator.

There was a time when no difficult subjects were ever aired in the 'Lady', and sadly, life isn't like that.

I've never seen a world where only men were responsible for the violence, and the women were innocent. They go together. Men and women are a violent mixture.

Crimes sometimes shock us too much; vices almost always too little.

There is one, and only one, thing in modern society more hideous than crime namely, repressive justice.