We all love Rhyme, the wheelchair-bound, obstinate, forensic genius, who has been outwitting bad guys for 13 novels now, but think about some of the psychopaths we've met along the way.

Of course, The Bone Collector kicked it off. Who wasn't afraid to get into a cab after reading that book? Or the master illusionist "The Conjurer" in The Vanished Man. Or indeed "The Watchmaker", the only villain to elude Rhyme.

Now we have "The Composer", and you only have to read the opening chapters of his story – "and every villain is the hero of his own story," says Deaver – to know that Rhyme will have his work cut out for him here.

"I love my villains," says Deaver.

"I try very hard to never make them a caricature. I see it as my job to create villains worthy of Lincoln's attention; they have to be more resourceful, more conniving, more devious, every time."

Deaver is promoting The Burial Hour, his 33rd novel, in which Rhyme, and his partner Amelia Sachs, are chasing a suspect who kidnaps victims, strings them up in a noose and records their desperate gasps to use as background in musical compositions. Needless to say, he's a nasty piece of work.

Deaver has placed most of the action in Italy; yet he never intended to. "A few years back I received a lifetime achievement award in Italy and I stood up and thanked the large crowd, thanked them for being great fans, great readers, and I said 'I promise to set a book in Italy', and when I sat back down I thought, 'God, what have I promised?'."

He enjoyed the task of research, exploring the differences between American and Italian law enforcement, taking Rhyme and Sachs out of their comfort zone.

Deaver never thought Rhyme would be such a popular character. When he started on The Bone Collector in the mid '90s he knew he wanted to have a hero who was different from the action heroes of the time.

"We've all seen the movies with car chases and explosions and special effects," Deaver says.

"We know the hero is going to survive and the bad guy is going down ... at the end the hero pulls out a gun and kills the bad guy, or he karate chops him to death, however it happens … but does anyone get emotionally engaged? I don't think so.

"With Rhyme, with his Sherlock Holmes-like mind, he engages in these mind games with the villains, people really respond to that.

"We're all our minds first and Lincoln epitomises that because of his physical limitations, we can all relate to that."

It also helps, he says, that his books are "roller coasters", fast paced, with lots of twists and turns, three or four surprise endings – and The Burial Hour doesn't disappoint in this regard.

At 67, Deaver shows no sign of slowing down. He writes for eight to 10 hours a day, pumping out a novel a year. There will be another Rhyme book for 2018.

He says the film version of The Bone Collector helped things along, with Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie starring in the creepy thriller. Legal issues have meant no more Rhyme films have been made – a couple of non-Rhyme novels have been made for television and he's just sold the television rights to The October List, which tells its story from finish to start – but if there were to be a new one, Deaver would like to see Russell Crowe as Rhyme.

"He would make a good dyspeptic criminal scientist with not much patience for ineptitude," Deaver has said.

Is that fancy talk for: he wouldn't stand for much bullshit, like most of us Australians?

"Yes it is!" he says.

"I love Australia, love the people, the culture, the wine, I especially love Australian wine. If anyone wants to send me a bottle of Grange, feel free!"

Now that Rhyme has ventured to Italy, would there be a chance of bringing him Down Under?

"Lincoln would love it there. Maybe I should," Deaver laughs, about to head here himself for a whirlwind tour that takes in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Ulladulla.

Jeffery Deaver is the author of The Burial Hour published by Hachette Australia. He is appearing at events June 26-30 in Brisbane, Sydney, Ulladulla, Adelaide and Melbourne. Details at hachette.com.au/events