Bruce Beckham > Quotes

“a philosophy borrowed from the long-suffering Scots, that there is no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes. ”
― Bruce Beckham, Murder in the Mind

“I began to appreciate that the job of an amateur sleuth was not quite so straightforward as they make out in the whodunits.”
― Bruce Beckham, Murder Mystery Collection

“ken whit tae dae wi’ it.”
― Bruce Beckham, Murder Mystery Collection

“and there are one-bedroom flats to rent at weekly rates you wouldn’t even pay for a month back up north.”
― Bruce Beckham, Murder in Adland

“In common with many of the homes along the street, the ubiquitous grey satellite dish juts out half way up the rendered wall, sucking in signals that are the methadone of the square-eyed masses.”
― Bruce Beckham, Detective Inspector Skelgill

“Skelgill shrugs, as though perhaps there is no news as such, and now he”
― Bruce Beckham, Murder in Adland

“there are fewer flames, and”
― Bruce Beckham, Murder on the Lake

“I suppose when you accumulate a certain number of traumas of magnitude – a critical mass, if you like – thereafter, their occurrence becomes the norm.  You understand that is the nature of life.”
― Bruce Beckham, The DI Skelgill Series Books 11-13: compelling British crime mysteries

“Well – sometimes, nothing can be something.”
― Bruce Beckham, Murder In School

“becomes aware of the fast-enlarging exit sign for Gretna, its kitschy factory outlets, and the A75 west.”
― Bruce Beckham, Murder on the Edge

“chipolatas.”
― Bruce Beckham, Murder in Adland

“Diplomacy aside, Skelgill is difficult to disappoint when it comes to snacking on the hoof.”
― Bruce Beckham, Murder on the Edge

“rain;”
― Bruce Beckham, Detective Inspector Skelgill

“This is a familiar situation: if DI Skelgill gets the merest hint of some irregularity, an errant piece of the jigsaw that doesn’t fit – that might have found its way in by accident from another puzzle altogether – he’ll refuse to be drawn towards what might seem the obvious, convenient and perfectly adequate conclusion.  Instead he’ll pursue any number of unpromising leads, explore blind avenues, and concoct improbable theories, giving the impression that the investigation is going nowhere fast, and everywhere else slowly.  Then, suddenly, early one morning, he’ll come back from a fishing trip on Bassenthwaite Lake and move in for the kill with all the devastating speed and single-minded ruthlessness of the pike.”
― Bruce Beckham, Murder In School

“As such, they are welcomed at the force’s Edinburgh HQ, Fettes Avenue. (Skelgill’s little joke is that this surely ought to be renamed Letsby Avenue.)”
― Bruce Beckham, Murder in Adland

“Edinburgh motorists are polite but stubborn (it is a Scottish trait, and good reason never to invade).”
― Bruce Beckham, Murder in Adland

“Of course, Inspector – turkeys don’t generally vote for Christmas.”
― Bruce Beckham, Murder In School

“for whom the countryside is something with which to engage superficially, in the same category as a cinema complex, a shopping mall, or even a holiday to a hot climate where luxury hotels line up along fake beaches of imported bulldozered sand and craned-in palm trees.”
― Bruce Beckham, Murder Mystery Weekend

“the ubiquitous grey satellite dish juts out half way up the rendered wall, sucking in signals that are the methadone of the square-eyed masses.”
― Bruce Beckham, Murder on the Edge

“However, Skelgill’s time is precious, and if he is not to become the second casualty of the day, bored to an early death, he must regain the initiative.”
― Bruce Beckham, Murder in Adland

“It is rather like taking pot luck with the map of the London Underground, randomly hopping off at a station, and hoping there is somebody hanging around with nothing better to do than provide useful directions.”
― Bruce Beckham, Murder in Adland

“Missing persons are a nagging thorn in the side of the police – every year some quarter of a million are reported, of which ninety-five per cent subsequently turn up safe and sound.”
― Bruce Beckham, Murder by Magic

“anachronism.”
― Bruce Beckham, Murder at Dead Crags

“Skelgill – a man who watches precious little television and who associates the commercial break with putting on the kettle – seems thoroughly unimpressed”
― Bruce Beckham, Murder in Adland

“there’s”
― Bruce Beckham, Detective Inspector Skelgill

“It might be an inverted busman’s holiday, but at least he’s a busman.”
― Bruce Beckham, Murder on the Edge

“Frowning, Skelgill must be reminded that one can never cease to be amazed by the amount of blood that fits inside one person.”
― Bruce Beckham, Murder in Adland

“Such avian silence is punctuated only by the occasional plunk of a trout sinking an ovipositioning daddy longlegs, and the hysterical cackle of a Mallard that finally gets last night’s joke.”
― Bruce Beckham, Murder In School

“prematurely”
― Bruce Beckham, Detective Inspector Skelgill

“That seems a reasonable assumption.  You know how one’s books once lent are invariably considered to be the property of the borrower.”
― Bruce Beckham, The DI Skelgill Series #5-7