Mark Billingham is the bestselling author of 26 novels, including the Tom Thorne series. Mark is also a regular contributor to radio and TV and is a member of the Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers, a combo of bestselling crime and thriller writers who performed at the Glastonbury Festival in 2019 and 2024.

An acclaimed television series based on the Tom Thorne novels was screened on Sky One in Autumn 2010, starring David Morrissey as Tom Thorne. A series based on the novels In The Dark and Time Of Death was screened on BBC1 in 2017.

Interview with Mark Billingham

Mark was interviewed by debut author and CWA Secretary, Roxie Key.

What is the first crime story you remember reading, and was this a catalyst for you?
It was The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes and it was read to me (and the rest of the class) by our somewhat eccentric maths teacher who got bored halfway through his own lessons. God bless him! It’s the reason I love detective fiction, but can’t add up.

When was the moment you knew that writing fiction was going to be more than a hobby?
I suppose it would be when I got my publishing deal. I was already 40 by then, so I was banking desperately on it being something more than a hobby. I had to be serious about it because the only alternative was going back to stand-up comedy and nobody wanted that!

How has your own life experience affected the novels you write?
I think that’s pretty much unavoidable. I’ve been lucky in that (bar one bizarre incident in a Manchester hotel) I’ve never had a brush with violent crime, but other experiences have definitely fed into my writing. I’ve used everything! My past life as an actor and comedian has definitely been enormously useful. Writing a book is just another kind of performance.

What did you buy with your first royalties cheque?
I can’t honestly remember, but it was probably a hat.

What have you found is the best thing about being an author?
I’m a shameless show-off, so I love the performing side that gets an airing at festivals and other events. I know not every author feels that way, but for me it’s a major perk of the job. if I couldn’t get up on stage every once in a while to pontificate and tell a few cheap jokes, I’m not sure I’d bother writing the books.

Who has helped you the most along the way, and how?
Other writers, definitely. The crime fiction community has always been a welcoming one and a great many established writers were hugely generous and supportive when I first tried to barge my way into their gang. Writers continue to help and inspire me through their work and I can’t imagine that will ever change.

As a crime writer, what would you like to be remembered for?
Obviously my series of 50-plus crime novels. OK, so it’s only 26 right now, but I like to be optimistic. More seriously, I’d like to be thought of as a writer who was as supportive of new authors in the same way those writers I mentioned above were to me. I can’t overstate what a huge boost that was for me and it doesn’t take much effort to pay that back, so why wouldn’t I? Oh, I’d also like to be remembered as someone who was always on time, whose jokes were occasionally funny and could be relied upon to show up in a loud shirt and a stylish hat.

If you were asked to advise someone who was starting out as a crime writer now, what would you say?
It’s such an obvious answer but…READ! I’ve spoken to so many people who want to write crime fiction and when I ask who they read they (almost proudly) announce that they don’t read at all. Like you can be a chef without eating food!? Another mistake new writers can make is to write for the market or to try and follow a current trend. That’s never going to pay off, and certainly not if you want to be in it for the long haul. Write the book you would like to read, because that rarely fails and, once you’re in the groove and found your comfort zone…step out of it. It’s scary when you do that, but only because it should be.

If you could go back and change one thing about your debut novel, what would it be?
I’d get rid of any reference I made to Tom Thorne’s bizarre liking for garage and techno music. It was such a stupid thing to do. Actually, I DID get rid of it when I made some changes to that book for the 20th anniversary edition. Most of the time we have to live with our mistakes, but just that once I was able to do something about them. And I’d definitely make Thorne younger. I thought it was clever to make him the same age as I was when I was writing the book. I thought I’d find it easier. Instead, because I was aging the character in real time I found myself running out of road very quickly. So, he began to age…a lot slower than I was.

What’s the next exciting thing happening for you?
The next book. Always the next book. And perhaps a new hat…