Quintin Jardine is the author of two much-acclaimed and best-selling series of detective novels, as Eddie Bell and Pat Lomax, his agents, can be heard proclaiming to anyone who is listening, at book festivals around the world.

Are you a bookgeek?

I have no idea. What is a bookgeek? Sounds to me like some crawly thing I’d stamp on, hard. [Editor's note: we're going to try not to take this too personally!]

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever been given (and do you follow it)?

Never end a sentence with a preposition. (No, I don’t.)

Which authors do you find most inspiring as a writer?

Robert Louis Stevenson, Dashiell Hammett, St John the Apostle.

Do you have an audience in mind when writing, or do you just write for yourself?

The latter, I’m afraid; If I had anyone else in mind, I might be inclined to compromise. I’ve never found myself asking, ‘Would my readers like this?’ Instead I ask, ‘Do I believe this?’

Where do you write, and why?

In my office, because it’s the space that suits me best.

Tell us the book you most wish you had written.

Treasure Island.

What led you to do a Skinner prequel/flashback novel?

When I finished A Rush of Blood, Skinner 20, I paused for breath and took a broad look at the series. This led me to realise that while I knew quite a bit about most of the major characters, the one of whom I knew least was Skinner himself. I began to correct this in The Loner, a standalone novel in which Bob features briefly, and that led me to the decision to him a little further back in time inGrievous Angel. Alongside that, I’d wanted for a while to do a first person cop book, since they’re rarities in the genre. Eventually I decided that a prequel would be the best way for me to do this, and to give Skinner more of aback story in the process.

After 21 appearances, what do you think is the secret of Bob Skinner’s enduring popularity?

No, what do I hope is the secret. I hope that it’s because he’s different, a high-flyer who’s already flown, rather than a mid-ranking detective with a 100% clear-up rate but no promotion prospects. (Also, he makes money for my publishers.)

For the 22nd book, will you be continuing chronologically from the end of Grievous Angel, or returning to the present day?

Wrong tense; it’s finished already, and it’s contemporary.

TV development discussions are on underway on the Skinner series. Do you have a view on who would be best to play the lead?

A very firm view; Idris Elba. He’s the best TV actor around at the moment, and in an adaptation, that’s the person you want. All other issues, accent, ethnicity, etc, take second place.

What do you see as the biggest changes in Scottish crime fiction since you started writing?

There appears to be more of it about. Why? In my opinion, the emergence, and well-deserved success, of Ian Rankin and Val McDermid, prompted a generation of Scots to try their hands at the genre. Incidentally, I don’t count myself among their number. Val and Ian were both in print before me, but I had never heard of either of them until after Skinner’s Rules was published. I started to write, because my wife challenged/ordered me to do so, beginning of story, end of story.

Additional questions by Mike Stafford.

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