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Martin You have had a variety of interesting jobs and at one time in the 80s you lived with your husband on a small island off the Wirral coast. What prompted you to turn to crime writing?
Ann. I’d always wanted to write and had started a dark and pretentious novel when I was still at college. Luckily I decided in time that no-one could possibly want to read it. Crime fiction was always my comfort reading. There’s nothing like Maigret if you’ve got the flu. I was training to be a probation officer when we were required to study a sub-culture. Everyone else chose a social work related theme; I did twitchers. My seminar group was fascinated and when I had time on my hands – pregnant on an eleven acre island – I brought the two together, killing off a birdwatcher on a nature reserve.

Martin. To what extent have your experiences from those other jobs influenced your crime writing?
Ann Being a probation officer was useful. We had to prepare pre-sentence reports for the court. This was a summary of the defendant’s life and background, providing some idea of what had led to the offending. It was great practice for developing character (and for writing fiction).

Martin. Husband and wife sleuthing duos are by no means unknown, but they are not very common, either. Were George and Molly Palmer-Jones based on real-life characters?
Ann. Yes, two wonderfully kind and eccentric people – Professor and Dorothy Craggs. They lived on the Wirral and gave me a bed when the tides meant I couldn’t get out to the island. Their house was full of books and although they were both scientists, they were great story tellers.

Martin. Did you always envisage writing a series rather than a one-off mystery novel?
Ann. Yes, when I started writing crime in the 80s most mysteries were series. Editors expected it.

Martin It is some time since George and Molly last appeared. Do you have any plans to bring them back?
Ann. Certainly not in a novel. They seem rather dated now. I have a vague idea about a short story. I’ll need to write a few hundred words before I decide whether or not it’ll work.

Martin. What prompted you to write a series featuring a professional police detective?
Ann. I didn’t really. The first of the Inspector Ramsay series features a retired collier and his daughter. I planned they would set up a rather unusual and chaotic detective agency for the series. Ramsay only appeared incidentally. Then my agent said the focus needed to be sharper and he became the central character.

Martin. How important is the North East setting to the Ramsay books, as far as you are concerned?
Ann. Crucial. I started writing them because I wanted to write about that place – that physical and social landscape. I can’t imagine him coming from any other background.

Martin. With The Crow Trap, you changed direction once again. Why did you move away from the series concept in favour of psychological suspense?
Ann. I wanted the challenge, the space to try something a bit different. And my agent, whose judgement I trust, gave me the confidence to try it.

Martin. The Crow Trap has been followed by two more one-off crime novels. What is in the pipeline? Ann. I’ve just finished a sequel to The Crow Trap. It was intended to stand alone, but I’m very fond of the detective in it. Inspector Vera Stanhope is middle aged and unglamorous. I got quite cross that even feminist writers created beautiful and athletic women central characters, while Reg Hill could get away with a brilliant monster like Andy Dalziel.

Martin. You won a television award some years ago. What is the story behind that, and are there any plans to televise any of your books?
Ann. It was a very modest award for a short film I wrote as a competition piece. It was fun to do, but I’m not sure I’d have the discipline to write a full length film. The Ramsay books have been optioned for television, but so, I think, have most other series characters at one time or another.

Martin. You have spent time working with prisoners. Has that had any influence on your approach to writing crime fiction?
Ann. Probably no more than working with any other individuals – birdwatchers, librarians or crime writers. All writers are parasites, aren’t they? We eavesdrop conversations and pry into people’s lives and though we don’t use those experiences directly, they must inform our work.

Martin. These days you work part-time for Kirklees Libraries. How does that impact on your writing, and how do you see the future for the libraries movement? Ann. It cuts down on writing time, certainly, but because I’m setting up reading groups and organising author events, I’m reading more widely. That, as much as writing, is how we practise our craft, I think. This is an exciting time for libraries. We can stock a much wider variety of fiction than most bookshops. Certainly in Huddersfield we have crime novels in translation, anthologies of short stories, books which are out of print – things that you never see in even major High Street stores. But their survival depends on their being used. Even if you can afford to buy books now, you should be a library member. Otherwise when you’re elderly or poor, they might not be there for you.

Martin You have also been closely connected with the Cheltenham Literary Festival. Was that a fun experience, and did your encounters with ‘mainstream’ novelists ever tempt you to desert the crime genre?
Ann Cheltenham was exhilarating if a little daunting. The audience is very literate and articulate. I ran daily reading groups on a book featured in the festival. Some days 50 people turned up! It made me realise again what a creative experience reading is. People bring their own imaginations to the stories we create. Once the book is finished, it doesn’t belong to us any more. I’m not sure we can separate mainstream from genre fiction. What is Pat Barker’s Border Crossing, for instance? Or Sarah Water’s Affinity. Both are very good books. Every crime writer aims to write a very good book. I’ve written short stories without murders in them. I don’t think I could write a novel without one, but the crime is never the starting point.

Martin. You were a founder member of the ‘Murder Squad’ collective of crime writers and you are now the Squad’s booking secretary. What, for you, has been the appeal of your association with Murder Squad?
Ann The friendship and support I’ve had from contact with the other individuals.

Martin How do you see your crime writing career developing in the future?
Ann I want to write better books.