CRIMINALLY GOOD: interview with author David Malcolm

1) So, who are you & what have you written?

My name’s David Malcolm. I come from Scotland. I’ve knocked around the world for the past forty years or so – mostly the USA, Japan, and Poland. Off and on, I’ve lived in Poland for almost thirty years. My novel The German Messenger – a spy story set in 1916 – was published by Crime Wave Press in 2016. I’ve also published crime stories and keep on writing them.

2) Why do you write crime fiction?

It takes you to the lies and mistakes that sit under everyday life. It takes you to the corruptions that fester under our politics. It takes you to interesting places you’d never actually want to be in. It helps you take imaginary revenge on people you hate.

3) What informs your crime writing?

For me it’s people, times, and places. I’m interested in historical crime fiction because you can recreate times and places that are fascinating, but, of course, gone forever. I like to create the central characters who move through those times and places.

4) What’s your usual writing routine?

The goddamn day jobs interfere so much I don’t have a routine. I write when I can. I plan the stories in my head walking or when I’m on a train. Or on scraps of paper in café and bars.

5) Which crime book do you wish YOU’D written, and why?

Anything by Ross Macdonald. Because they’re so elegant, so inevitable, and so miserable.