“Ya Wanna Do It Here Or Down The Station, Punk?” # 319: Allan Guthrie

Yep, it’s rubber-hose time, folks: a rapid-fire Q&A for those shifty-looking usual suspects ...
What crime novel would you most like to have written?
My next one.
Who do you read for guilty pleasures?
That’s tough … Has to be Heat Magazine. It’s full of people I’ve never heard of, doing things I’ve no interest in. I only read it in the hope of spotting Ken Bruen one of these days. Honest.
Most satisfying writing moment?
Probably the Edgar nomination for Kiss Her Goodbye.
The best Irish crime novel is …?
My favourite is American Skin, Ken Bruen.
What Irish crime novel would make a great movie?
Off the top of my head: Alex Barclay’s The Caller, Gene Kerrigan’s Little Criminals, Bateman’s I Predict A Riot (a looong movie) and Bruen’s Her Last Call To Louis MacNeice and London Boulevard.
Worst / best thing about being a writer?
Worst: writing. Best: rewriting. Or, possibly: Worst: writing alone. Best: co-writing.
Why does John Banville use a pseudonym for writing crime?
Presumably because the books are aimed at a different market. Or maybe he just likes the idea of following in Bernard Mara / Brian Moore’s footsteps. Or it could be a contractual nicety. I haven’t a bloody clue. Go and ask him and let me know what he says.
The three best words to describe your own writing are …?
The suspense is ...

Allan Guthrie’s Hard Man is out now. And if you’re feeling particularly generous today, you can vote for Allan’s Two-Way Split in the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year award over here. Go on, you know you want to …