Michael Robotham

Probably until she wrote Ripley, the idea of the

violent protagonist in crime writing was sort of an ugly concept.

And here was a protagonist who was not only the perpetrator but also the star and a real star.

And I think that's what, of course, made them, lent the book so well to film is that they could be cast with great-looking, highly charismatic film stars.

But also...

You know, in a way what's so baffling and brilliant and set up a new sort of expectation I think for the reader is that she makes the reader feel chilled about their own moral vulnerability because we identify with Ripley, because we're taken by Ripley, because we're carried along by him.

because we want him to get away with it.

There is a kind of a thrill when you're reading about who you are as the reader, and you're not who you thought you were.

And I think that has gone on, and I think there's something of that that's been carried on in

more recent writing and cinema in terms of criminals, that they make us question ourselves and make us realise that we are also sort of counterfeit in our public personas.

Always a pleasure to spend time with Patricia.

Hi, Kate.

Hello.

No, people don't like letting go of my books, though, can they?

They might pick one up, but they don't want to let it go.

Yeah, I think so too.

He's not the major character in all nine, but he's been in nine.

Now, Mr Ruiz features in some of the others.

I think it comes down to the fact that when people pick up a series they love, it's the character that brings them back.

Long after they've forgotten the plot, it's the main character that they've fallen in love with.