ACCLAIMED crime writer and historical novelist Julian Rathbone, 69, has just written his 35th book, As Bad as it Gets, a thriller set in Kenya.

Julian, whose first book, Diamonds Bid, was published in l967, has been twice nominated for the Booker Prize — for King Fisher Lives in 1976, and Joseph in 1979. He has also won a Crime Writers’ Association Short Story Dagger, and the Deutsche Krimi Preis.

An only child, Julian lived in Liverpool until the age of five when war broke out and he moved with his parents to North Wales. He went to a boarding school in Dorset and read English at Magdalene College, Cambridge.

He became an English teacher in a secondary modern school for a year and taught English as a foreign language in Turkey for three years.

Back in England, he worked as a supply teacher in London. He then taught in a Camden secondary school until 1967, the year his first thriller, which was set in Turkey, was published. He was 32.

Julian continued teaching in Sussex for another six years, while he wrote three more books set in Turkey. By 1973 he was able to concentrate on writing full time. Since then he has written one book a year. He has also travelled extensively in Kenya and California, and lived in France and Spain for long periods.

Julian is married to Alayne, a translator, and they have two children: Arthur, 24, a composer, and Nina, 19, who is working as a voluntary teacher in Ghana. The family’s New Forest home is in a village on the border of Hampshire and Dorset. Julian is busy planning his 36th book, a thriller set in Cuba.

How much money do you have in your wallet?

I don’t use a wallet but I have £25 in my hip pocket that’s for a taxi if it is raining or buying a book on Cuba or the Indian Mutiny. I get through £50 or £60 cash a week on small items such as duck eggs, fresh produce from the local market, and stuff for the garden.

Do you have any credit cards?

I have a Platinum Barclaycard and a NatWest Mastercard that I use for just about everything. They are convenient because my income is so uneven, allowing me some debt if I earn very little one quarter.

They are useful for buying things over the net, especially when we put together our own holidays.

Are you a saver or spender?