I was close to falling for crime fiction. George Pelecanos pushed me over the edge. If ever I get published, I have a half-decent origin story. This is how my interest and love for crime fiction was kicked into life.

Glasgow. Wet and wonderful. It may have been a Wednesday. The bookshop that sat at the junction of Sauchiehall Street and Buchanan Street was busy. Some people loitered to avoid the rain, while others dipped in and out of books, lost in worlds and stories. At the back, there was an area that had been prepared for a conversation with that evening’s guest: George Pelecanos.

How I found George Pelecanos is down to a conversation I had with Mark Billingham a few months before. As a BBC radio producer, I was able to book guests from the world of entertainment for the morning show I was working on. I had been introduced to Mark’s debut, Sleepyhead, by my wife and – also having been a huge fan of Maid Marian and her Merry Men (BBC), which Mark had featured in – I booked him to talk about his book, comedy and his career.

As the producer, I was responsible for setting the agenda and creating a ‘world’ for the hour and 15 minutes of live radio. That morning, I had planned and built a whole show around crime fiction with noir features and amusing insights into the crime genre, with Mark featuring throughout, but being our main ‘celebrity’ guest interview. The morning of the show, however, the top headline on the radio news was about the murder of a young girl. That made it impossible to follow the headlines with a humorous take on crime, so – following a very rapid rethink between 0530 and 0830 in the morning – I’d re-organised the show and had to tell Mark. He completely understood the issue, listened to the re-organisation, and we reconfigured some of the features. When all that was done, we had a little time to chew the fat. I may have fan-boyed about Sleephead before explaining my discovery of crime fiction and asking him who I should be reading. I don’t remember him thinking for too long. He said, “You have to read George Pelecanos.”

That afternoon, I was sitting in a Glasgow café with Shoedog in my hands. And I was hooked. This first adventure was one of a standalone read. I’d later go on to read about Nick Stefanos and Derek Strange, but for this introduction, I tumbled into the life of a drifter called Constantine. Hooked by page one, I marvelled at the richness of the world he created, the wonderful characters that lived and breathed in my head and the thrill of the story. One thing was for sure: Mark Billingham was right.

About two or three months after having Mark on the show, I read that George had a new book out. Having built a relationship with the publicist, I managed to book George on the show, too. This must have been about 2001; George would have been promoting Right as Rain or Hell to Pay.

Reading was new to me. At the time, I was watching between three and five movies a week in the cinemas, so between reading Shoedog and George coming on the show, I think I’d read only two or three more of his books. However, it was enough to make me a fan. Unlike Mark’s experience on the show, George’s went as planned without any hiccups. Only this time, I made sure I had at least ten minutes with George before he went on. He was down the line from London, so I was able to chat with him about his books and writing. I told him that I’d just discovered crime fiction, that I was transitioning from movies to books, and asked who I should read. He then took me on a tour of the golden age classic writers like Raymond Chandler, Ross Macdonald, Dashiell Hammett and beyond.

If Mark Billingham had forced open the door on my crime reading, George Pelecanos kicked it down and pushed me in.

It wasn’t long after that that I was sitting in the bookshop waiting for George to talk about his new book. I remember very little about what he said that night, but I do remember the long, black leather coat he wore and how the people who had come to hear him hung on every word.

I didn’t introduce myself afterwards, nor did I get my book signed. I wish I had, but what was I going to say other than, ‘I love your words’? One thing I don’t regret is reading his books and following his advice. George Pelecanos set me on the path to not only reading crime fiction, but writing it too.

Is right, George.