Paul Doherty > Quotes

“Believe me, Athelstan, you can wrap a dog's turd in a cloth of gold but it remains a dog's turd.”
― Paul Doherty

“They treat me like some sort of pet cat but claws I have, and claws I will use”
― Paul Doherty, The Mask of Ra

“Always remember a useful dictum: every man born of woman is three persons; what he appears to be, what he claims to be and,’ he beamed round, ‘what he really is.”
― Paul Doherty, The House of the Red Slayer

“Cain is in each of us. We lose our temper, feel cornered and frightened, it can be the work of an instant. But to savour murder - that’s not the prompting of Cain, that’s Satan!”
― Paul Doherty, The Nightingale Gallery

“say “From nothing comes nothing - Nihil ex nihilo!”
― Paul Doherty, The Nightingale Gallery

“One of the great advantages about being a villain is that you can easily recognise other villains and on rare occasions, recognise a truly good man.”
― Paul Doherty, The Whyte Harte (Matthew Jankyn, Book 1): A sweeping historical mystery of medieval England

“Then de Montfort, resplendent in liturgical robes as well as his own arrogance, walked back to the altar where the mass continued.”
― Paul Doherty, The Angel of Death

“I suspect this abbey, for all its sanctity, houses a veritable brew of malevolent, murderous mischief.”
― Paul Doherty, Death's Dark Valley

“I have been asked to speak with true voice. I do find this difficult. It’s like a fire in a house. You smell the smoke, you see the wisps but you are not certain where the fire is burning.”
― Paul Doherty, An Evil Spirit Out of the West (Akhenaten Trilogy, Book 1): A story of ambition, politics and assassination in Ancient Egypt

“as St Augustine put it, was man a mere child playing in the rock pools of a beach ignoring the great ocean whispering beside him?”
― Paul Doherty, The Angel of Death

“corrupt”
― Paul Doherty, The Peacock's Cry

“Mind you, doctors are not all bad. If you want a real bastard, hire a lawyer. One of these imps of Satan came up from the Middle Temple offering to write out an inventory of my goods so I could make a will. ‘After all,’ he commented, looking slyly at me, ‘you have so many offspring.’ I asked the bastard what he meant? He replied with a knowing leer how many of the young men and women in the surrounding villages bear more than a passing resemblance to my goodself. My little fart of a chaplain nods, but I am not ashamed. I have, in many ways, been a true father to my people. Anyway, back to the lawyer! I soon wiped the grin off his silly face when I asked him if he was a good runner. ‘Swift as a hare,’ he declared. I hope he was. I gave him five minutes’ start and loosed my dogs on him.”
― Paul Doherty, The White Rose Murders

“with anyone, nor did he ever visit the cookshops, the barber’s chair, the wine houses.’ ‘The only explanation for that, my learned scribe,’ Shufoy gloated, ‘is that our good friend Ipumer was meeting someone secretly almost every day or, at least, during the”
― Paul Doherty, The Amerotke Omnibus (Ebook): Three mysteries from Ancient Egypt

“Newgate, and perhaps elsewhere.’ So saying, he strode out of the house. Athelstan breathed a prayer for patience, made a sign of the cross over himself and followed suit. Cranston, now mounted,”
― Paul Doherty, The Nightingale Gallery

“To you this is a great mystery, but for me death holds no mystery: just three corpses, the ka of which are already travelling into the Far West. I am simply here to ease their way, like a midwife at birth,”
― Paul Doherty, The Poisoner of Ptah (Amerotke Mysteries, Book 6): A deadly killer stalks the pages of this gripping mystery

“Jesus Lord, welcome thou me In form of bread as I see thee Jesus, for thy holy name, Shield me today from sin and shame.”
― Paul Doherty, The Straw Men

“honey-hunting bees.”
― Paul Doherty, The Prince of Darkness

“is an interesting link between Edward II’s favourites and the English royal family in the last decade of the twentieth century. After Gaveston’s death, Edward chose a new favourite, the very sinister but able Hugh de Spencer, whose tomb can still be seen in Tewkesbury Abbey, Gloucestershire. De Spencer’s control over the young king led to civil war between Edward and his Isabella. The Queen was victorious. De Spencer died a horrible death and, according to unpublished chronicle, the Commons took an oath never to allow a de Spencer to become King. The present”
― Paul Doherty, The Prince of Darkness

“high-heeled boots,”
― Paul Doherty, The Waxman Murders

“bringing”
― Paul Doherty, Murder Wears a Cowl

“Sir John, once he”
― Paul Doherty, Candle Flame

“We have looked into the pit and confronted whatever has glared back.”
― Paul Doherty, The King's Writ

“this heel is attached to the boot”
― Paul Doherty, The Magician's Death

“the first course was served:”
― Paul Doherty, The Magician's Death

“We will never forget those sombre valleys where the mist never lifts. The sudden ambuscade, arrows whipping like a swarm of hornets from the trees. Silent assassins crawling on their bellies, axe in one hand, knife in the other.”
― Paul Doherty, Death's Dark Valley

“Jonah being delivered from the whale.”
― Paul Doherty, The Angel of Death

“Suddenly de Montfort went rigid and the ciborium slipped from his hand, dashing the white hosts like snowflakes onto the altar steps. The man’s hand went out, pointing at the king, his usually skull-like face now almost cadaverous, the skin drawn tight, the eyes bulging. Corbett rose, his hand searching for the knife beneath his cloak. De Montfort’s mouth opened and shut like a landed carp, then with a loud cry he fell headlong down the steps, his”
― Paul Doherty, The Angel of Death

“Dressed in a cotehardie,”
― Paul Doherty, Hymn to Murder

“Ralph Grandison Templar knight Reginald Ausel Master of St Giles lazar hospital Edmund Datchet Templar knight Master Crowthorne Leech at St Giles lazar hospital Walter Burghesh Templar captain Roger Stapleton Templar knight Sir Peter Mausley Leper knight Richard Puddlicot Master felon”
― Paul Doherty, Dark Serpent

“In the beginning, all there was was the divine Mother. All things in the beginning are female.”
― Paul Doherty, The Horus Killings