The book that changed my life

FIFTEEN years ago, my late wife and I were on holiday in Spain. At the airport, I'd bought my usual bag of reading, including a novelisation of the series, The Justice Game, which had just been screened by BBC Scotland.

My hazy recollection is that there was no author's name on the cover. Whether that's right or not, I know now who he was, but I won't name him, for it wouldn't be fair. I didn't like anything about the book: the characters didn't work on the page as they had on screen; the plot seemed ropey; and the ending, when I got there, struck me as contrived.

When I was done, I chucked it across the terrace, remarking aloud, "I could do better myself." To this my wife replied, "Time you did, then." Coming from her, that was an instruction.

If I'd kept my thoughts to myself, her challenge wouldn't have been made and I'd never have been asked to write this piece, 15 years and two-dozen crime novels down the road.

So I'd like to thank the author of The Justice Game. I've never met him, but I can say with some certainty that when he sat down to write it, he didn't anticipate that he was about to shape my destiny.

Lethal Intent by Quintin Jardine is published by Headline, price 10.99. He is at the Book Festival on 29 August