I was once asked why I had chosen to write crime fiction out of all the genres that were available to me. It took me a while to figure out an answer as it hadn’t occurred to me that I was writing crime fiction at that time. My reasons for writing my first novel What Goes Around were chiefly to explore of what motivates people to commit murder and the inner turmoil and justification someone must go through before and after the act. I was influenced by what I witnessed growing up and the trips I made to Ireland when the war known as ‘The Troubles’ was taking place. But of course, this is just my – highly personalised – take on crime fiction and the wonderful thing about this genre is how varied it is.

Today, we have a wide choice when it comes to crime fiction: the whodunit; the crime thriller; the crime mystery; police procedural; the legal thriller; and the detective novel – and I enjoy them all.

As I writer I probably read books differently to many bibliophiles as it is how a book is structured by the author that interests me most. There are many ways to lay out a story and choosing the right one for the tale that’s been running through your head for months, if not years, is one of the most difficult and important decisions to make. How I make my choices is for another blog but here’s some of the books I read most recently – very different in style, settings and structure – but in their own ways they are all masterful story-telling.