As well as being a consultant anaesthetist of 20 years’ standing and the holder of a master’s degree in the History of Medicine, Marisa Haetzman is one half of historical crime-writing duo Ambrose Parry with her husband, longstanding tartan noir luminary Christopher Brookmyre. A fourth novel in their Raven and Fisher series, set in the Edinburgh of the 1850s and following an unlikely pair of sleuths, is out now.
Favourite fictional doctor?
Dr Mark Green from ER, indisputably the best medical TV drama ever and the best incarnation of a fictional doctor. Knowledgeable, sensible, wise beyond his years, I’d sooner have him look after me than George Clooney.
What’s the last book you read?
The Opposite Of Lonely by Doug Johnstone, the latest instalment of the magnificent Skelfs series following the exploits of three generations of women from an unconventional Edinburgh family who jointly run a funeral home and private investigator business.
Favourite film?
Little Miss Sunshine. It’s warm, funny and quietly subversive.
What music are you currently listening to?
Max Richter. His music is transporting. Listening to it helps me write.
Recommend a novel …
Any Human Heart by William Boyd. An entertaining romp through the 20th century with serial cad Logan Mountstuart.
What has been your most formative cultural experience?
Watching an adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride And Prejudice at The Minack near Penzance, an open-air theatre perched high on the Cornish cliffs overlooking the sea. I have never experienced anything like it before or since, although this might have had more to do with the setting than the play. I was young and a bit naive and it made we want to travel back in time to delicately swoon in elegant drawing rooms until it was pointed out to me by my companion that given my working-class lineage, such time travel would most likely find me below stairs scrubbing floors.
Recommend a podcast …
The Shift. Middle-aged women sharing their wisdom, and we’ve got more than most to share.
Beyond your novels’ setting, what’s your favourite fictional time period?
Eighteenth-century Scotland, particularly the Jacobite uprising of 1745 and its calamitous aftermath have held a strange and haunting allure for me since visiting the battlefield of Culloden as a child. We Scots do seem to have an enduring fascination with tragic failure.
What’s your go-to YouTube video?
I will occasionally watch DIY tutorials on YouTube but I find their utility is limited by my impatience with long-winded explanations. You’ve got two minutes to get to the goods or you’ve lost me.
Irvine Welsh or Robert Louis Stevenson?
I’ve read more Irvine Welsh than RLS.
Fiction or non-fiction?
Both.
What haven’t you managed to get around to yet but will when you have the time?
Barbie. Having seen the trailer, I was a bit dubious about the whole concept but I have since heard good things from people whose opinions I trust, so I’ll give it a go next time I have two hours to spare.
What do you always turn off?
Sport. Can’t abide the commentary.
You’re in a station or airport ahead of a journey. What magazine do you grab?
In the past it would have been a copy of Vanity Fair. Nowadays I always have a book with me.
Favourite comedian?
Billy Connolly. He is a master of his art, a consummate storyteller and of course extremely funny.
Favourite actor?
Kathryn Hahn. She elevates everything that she appears in. I’d watch her in anything. Well, almost anything. Didn’t make it through Bad Moms Christmas.
Favourite song?
A Design For Life by Manic Street Preachers. James Dean Bradfield described this as a Trojan horse tune – a catchy melody to conceal a deeper political message. It had me at “Libraries gave us power”.
Vinyl or MP3?
MP3, mainly because I no longer own a turntable/record player – and don’t even know the correct term for it any more.
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Favourite band?
The Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers, a group of novelists who cover classic songs about crime and murder.
Recommend a TV box-set …
Parks And Recreation. Who can resist the infectious enthusiasm of Leslie Knope? Good for the soul and plenty of episodes to get you through a long dark winter.
Favourite museum or art gallery?
The National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh. Beautiful building. Never too crowded. I’m naturally nosey and portraits provide a chance to stare at people without them objecting.
READ MORE: Joan Eardley: Exhibition presents rare glimpse into formative years
Recommend an album
Big Country’s The Crossing. Forty years old and it still sounds fresh and exciting to me every time I hear it.
Drama or documentary?
Drama.
Who was the second-best James Bond?
Daniel Craig.
Favourite living author?
Chris Brookmyre. Reader, I married him.
Voices Of The Dead by Ambrose Parry is out now (Canongate, £16.99)
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