Of course, Enzo could not say no to the thrill and rush of solving a case and getting to use his skills and the modern pieces of equipment. Enzo finds Gaillard, but not wholly. He found a skull that belonged to Gaillard. But some clues lead him to a deeper investigation. Peter said: “At the end of the day people want to read about people not issues or subjects. They want to read human stories and to identify with people and feel their pain and be lifted by their joy, all those human emotions.

And it was the French version that was read by the book scout for award-winning young publishing house Quercus – a UK publisher that had not even existed when the book was first offered to British publishers. They immediately stepped in to buy the English language rights and were the ones to commission a further two books to create what has become known as The Lewis Trilogy. But Brodie’s also got his own reason to want to go there with just one chance to try to heal a family rift. And Peter also puts his character under severe pressure personally in a way he has never written about before. Brodie has reasons that make him likely to see the world differently than he ever would have done before. I chose the year 2051. It’s the year I would turn 100 if I were to survive, though I don’t expect to be around then. I wouldn’t want to be if all my predictions turn out to be accurate,” Peter laughed.

The day after I won the Télégramme prize, I received the fantastic news that I have been shortlisted for the British Crime Writers’ Association’s “Dagger in the Library” Award. This prize is decided by a judging panel of librarians, and it is awarded not for one particular book, but instead for a writer’s body of work, and for writers who have built up a following with library readers but who have not yet made a big breakthrough. What’s interesting about the two is that even though they are always in conflict, something is endearing about their relationship.

Enzo used to be a forensic expert, working on spine-chilling cases. But as with every exciting murder mystery, the expert must return to the field. Planning to write A Winter Grave, I thought 30 years would pass in no time. What would it be like politically here? So I thought ‘Let’s assume Scotland has become independent!’ and I would have a bit of fun, and see what an independent Scotland looks like. Which I did!” The two protagonists of the China Thrillers series are Margaret Campbell and Li Yan, two completely different people in every way possible. From their mindset to how they do their jobs, Yan and Campbell are two similar poles of a magnet; they can’t stand each other. Since retirement, one has developed a hobby of studying languages and taking university degrees in a whole range of arcane subjects, like quantum physics, and astronomy. The other has found part-time employment in an industry which makes use of his astonishing ability to absorb and remember facts. Don’t Burn The World is a song written by the author and his lyricist collaborator, Dennis McCoy, as a plea for the future of the planet in the face of catastrophic climate change.And I’d like to thank my readers around the world for their continued – and growing – support. I met many hundreds of you in person at book events all over the UK, in France and in Italy, but I was very disappointed to have to cancel the US and Canada tour in 2015 because of unexpectedly having to go into hospital for surgery. The good news is that I’m fully recovered and I hope to make it over to North America later in 2016. It’s easy to wax lyrical about the service that the enthusiasts who ran these stores provided for readers by offering good advice and astute recommendations, but speaking from personal experience the hosting they provided for authors will be difficult to replace. He is also the only Westerner to have been an honorary member of the Chinese Crime Writers Association’s Beijing Chapter. With numerous other awards and honors, May has some way of captivating readers and scratching their itch for an intriguing murder mystery. In my scenario Glasgow Airport has been flooded so the international airport is out of use, and that was all great fun and I enjoyed looking at that.”

He also wrote several hugely influential books on the subject of crime and criminal justice, including the seminal “Criminal Investigation: A Method of Reconstructing the Past”, along with his friend and colleague James W. Osterburg. Here is a video of me at the awards ceremony, receiving the Barry Award from George Easter. The video might not be very clear, but the audio quality is good enough to hear my speech.

"The Man With No Face"

I’m currently writing a new novel which will be published early 2018 on both sides of the Atlantic. Details of that will be released soon, but I can reveal that after opening in Paris, the action shifts to the Hebridean island of Lewis. And finally… I spent three months and read dozens of newspaper articles and reports and watched hours of video. It became apparent to me, the more research I did, that the more peril I realised the world was in, and the human race – and the future of the human race.