The book I am currently reading
The Old Religion by Martyn Waites. An advance copy of a novel that is published later this year. A chilling slice of contemporary folk horror that will make you think twice before venturing into that friendly looking Cornish pub.
The book that changed my life/the world
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle. Read out loud to me when I was 13 by an eccentric maths teacher who got bored during his own lessons. It’s the reason I write detective fiction. It’s also why I can’t add up.
The book I wish I’d written
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett. Fizzing, fat-free prose, and still a stunning read almost 90 years on from its publication, this is the novel that pretty much kick-started the hardboiled movement. Chandler and others went on to perfect the style, but it was Hammett’s ball they were running with.
The book that had the greatest influence on my writing
Having won the Whitbread prize for Docherty, William McIlvanney surprised and even dismayed many in 1977 when he chose to write a crime novel. How very dare he?! The seminal Laidlaw proved once and for all that genre and literary fiction were not mutually exclusive and inspired an entire generation of crime writers.
The book I think is most under/overrated
The Death of Sweet Mister by Daniel Woodrell is the tale of Shug Atkins, a friendless, overweight 13-year-old, growing up fast and hard in a dirt-poor Missouri town in the Ozarks. A dark and often brutal tale, with passages of heart-stopping tenderness and an unworldly tone I’ve yet to encounter anywhere else, from a superb writer who deserves a far bigger readership.
The last book that made me cry/laugh
The most recent volume of Danny Baker’s autobiography, Going on the Turn made me do both.
The book I couldn’t finish
I don’t finish any book I’m not enjoying. Reading should be a pleasure, not a war of attrition.
The book I’m most ashamed not to have read
See above answer. While I’m not exactly ashamed, should I find myself caught up in a discussion about the works of Jane Austen, I might have to shuffle quietly away …
The book I most often give as a gift
Though best known as a writer of dark crime fiction, John Connolly’s The Book of Lost Things is a funny, terrifying and deeply moving story about childhood and the transformative power of stories themselves.
The book I’d most like to be remembered for
Let’s hope it’s one I’ve yet to write, but right this minute, I’d be happy if it was any of them.
• Mark Billingham is a 2018 Quick Reads author. His novel Love Like Blood is published by Little, Brown.
