Ann Cleeves > Quotes

“Rather than the grey and dreary institutions of public perception, these should be places of innovation and experiment, where readers can take a chance on a book, pick one because they like the look of the cover or the title or because they see it returned by the gorgeous young man who lives in their street. After all, they will have absolutely nothing to lose. The book will be free.”
― Ann Cleeves, The Library Book

“We don't often notice the people who look after us, do we? Though we'd miss them if they weren't there”
― Ann Cleeves, Harbour Street

“But she thought the men’s brains had turned to jelly. They couldn’t see straight. Faced with a pretty woman they all seemed to lose their reason.”
― Ann Cleeves, Telling Tales

“like everything, sanity came more easily with practice.”
― Ann Cleeves, Thin Air

“the hugeness of the world was a pool to dive into, not somewhere to drown.”
― Ann Cleeves, The Moth Catcher

“Was it only possible truly to enjoy something if you knew there was a danger that it might be taken away?”
― Ann Cleeves, Harbour Street

“Vera thought for a moment that she might have found a man if she’d scrubbed up a bit better, then decided that no man was worth the time it took to plaster stuff on your face in the morning, when you could have an extra cup of tea instead.”
― Ann Cleeves, The Moth Catcher

“Not unless he crossed the line.’ Holly supposed she should let this go, but she was tired of Vera’s bullying. ‘Ah, that line . . .’ Vera leaned back in her chair with her eyes half-closed. ‘If only we knew exactly where it was.’ There”
― Ann Cleeves, The Moth Catcher

“In theory Vera liked strong women; in practice they often irritated her.”
― Ann Cleeves, The Glass Room

“I don’t understand how anyone can write if they don’t use public transport. I earwig all the time.”
― Ann Cleeves

“They think of themselves as your grandparents,’ he said. But call them whatever you like. James and Mary?”
― Ann Cleeves, Thin Air

“Vera had never bothered about punctuality unless she was the person doing the waiting.”
― Ann Cleeves, The Darkest Evening

“Oh, I’m interested in everything, Joe. That’s why I’m a bloody brilliant detective.’ She gave him her widest smile. ‘That’s why I’m in charge and you’re sitting there, doing as you’re told.”
― Ann Cleeves, The Seagull

“Vera watched him walk to his car, the champagne in one hand, the flowers in the other. Thought that if she'd been married to someone like Joe Ashworth, she'd be so bored she'd commit murder herself.”
― Ann Cleeves, Hidden Depths

“the light had the clear, sharp quality which comes before rain.”
― Ann Cleeves, Telling Tales

“The ritual of tea, Willow thought, is like a liturgy itself, comforting because it’s so familiar.”
― Ann Cleeves, Dead Water

“And once the others started shouting too, she stopped speaking and just watched. Pleased, as if it was what she had wanted all the time. That hate spreading like a wild fire on the hill.’ A pause. ‘It was as if she was drunk on the power.”
― Ann Cleeves, Hidden Depths

“She’d learned that it was important when you were dealing with professional do-gooders to keep calm. Otherwise they judged you. Wrote things like anger-management problems in their reports.”
― Ann Cleeves, The Moth Catcher

“It was precisely midnight when he stepped through the door. Taylor had said he wanted everyone in the Incident Room an hour before first light the next day, but Perez wasn't ready for sleep. As he switched on the kettle to make tea, he remembered he hadn't eaten since lunchtime and stuck sliced bread under the grill, fished margarine and marmalade from the fridge. He'd have breakfast now, save time in the morning.”
― Ann Cleeves, Raven Black

“He was never very good at talking about feelings. He'd been on his own for so long that it was as if he'd had to learn a new language”
― Ann Cleeves, Harbour Street

“The fair one was the prettier, round and soft, but Magnus noticed the dark one first; her black hair was streaked with luminescent blue.”
― Ann Cleeves, Raven Black

“lack of faith had little to do with choice. Doubt was a cancer that grew unbidden.”
― Ann Cleeves, The Long Call

“His thoughts were wheeling and dipping like the gulls over the estuary, groping for an explanation, feeling at last he was making sense of what lie behind Walden's death...”
― Ann Cleeves, The Long Call

“Now it came back in jagged flashes, like the sunlight on the pavements. She thought, This is what it is like to be old. This is how old people remember their childhood.”
― Ann Cleeves, Telling Tales

“The older you get the easier it is to be different.”
― Ann Cleeves, Stranded

“Don’t be daft, lad. I’ve worked with more loonies than you’ve had hot dinners. And I don’t just mean the offenders.”
― Ann Cleeves, Hidden Depths

“The road climbed steeply and then they were looking down at the village of Lovacott: a group of houses clustered around a small square, which was hardly more than the main street widened. A shop that seemed to sell everything, a pub. There was nothing picturesque here. No thatch. It would never have featured in an episode of Midsomer Murders.”
― Ann Cleeves, The Long Call

“An inspector’s role was strategic. Except that she’d always been seduced by the detail. She told herself she’d be back at the station before lunchtime.”
― Ann Cleeves, Harbour Street

“rooms, easy to heat. Now there was one L-shaped open-plan”
― Ann Cleeves, The Moth Catcher

“Because he’d talked to her about Catriona Bruce. He must be a lonely man. Living all on his own in that house since his mother died. Suddenly he had company, someone sympathetic, wanting him to talk, listening to him. Perhaps she had her own reasons for encouraging him to speak. She wanted his stories for her film. Perhaps she was just a nice kid who felt sorry for him. And the temptation was too much for him. Perhaps he’d had a whisky or two and that loosened his tongue. Whatever.’ ‘I can see that,’ Perez said. ‘I can even see him killing her afterwards to keep the whole thing quiet. But I can’t see him going into the Ross house, searching her room and finding the disk, finding the script and wiping all trace of it from the PC. I don’t get that.’ They sat looking at each other for a moment in silence. Taylor stretched, shuffled in his chair. He’d told Perez he had a bad back, disc trouble, that was why he couldn’t sit still, but Perez wasn’t convinced. It was the man’s mind that didn’t know how to rest, not his body. ‘So what do we do about it?’ Taylor said. ‘Time’s running out for me. I’ve promised I’ll be back at the end of the week. Any longer than that and they’ll start talking about a disciplinary.’ ‘I’m going to take another trip to the Anderson,’ Perez said. ‘Check she didn’t hand the film in early, give it to a friend to look at. If the film is safe we have to let the whole thing go. Like you said, the note on the back of the receipt incriminates Magnus. It shows he talked to her about Catriona. Euan says there’s no other way she could have known about the girl.’ Taylor stood up, lifting the plan with both hands on his way.”
― Ann Cleeves, Raven Black