“So much of contemporary crime fiction is painful to read and obsessed ...” — Donna Leon Quote

So much of contemporary crime fiction is painful to read and obsessed with violence, particularly against women, and I can't read that.

All through graduate school, instead of having a television I read murder mysteries: Hammett, Chandler, Ruth Rendell, P. D. James.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the most liberal and illumined of the nine Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court.

The character I created, 'Commissario Brunetti,' who appears in all my books, shares similar reading, artistic and musical tastes with me. Subconsciously, I knew that if I was to spend however long it would take to write this book with him, this man would have to be someone I'd like to have dinner with.

I've had a somewhat typical experience in that many of the contemporary writers I was exposed to early on were white and often male.

'ADHM' is a very contemporary kind of film. Ranbir Kapoor has performed very well.

What's good is that my music is different from everyone else's. It's got the soul element, like Duffy, but it's not very retro. It's a contemporary, pop, fresh sound. That's what makes it different.

With any period piece I think the thing to do is forget that it's not contemporary when you're writing and to have the characters feel as much as possible like characters that you would know.