Detective Fiction Quotes

“His mouth went dry and for a split second he had a metallic taste on the sides of his tongue. He stood, turned, and gulped. A vision had appeared from somewhere. Was she real? She was tall, with long, glossy light-gold hair surrounding a perfectly shaped face. The front of her silk white robe was open down to a delightful cleavage where a long silver cross hung. As she walked slowly past Alec to sit at the desk, the robe parted for a fleeting glimpse of her leg. A scent of lily of the valley meandered over him. A hand with long graceful fingers indicated for him to sit again in his chair. She was real!
She was, without doubt, the most beautiful woman Alec had ever seen.”
― Hugo Woolley, The Wasp Trap: Book 3 in the Charlotte's War Trilogy

“It was his job to seek out the truth behind her death, regardless.”
― Mark Ellis, The Embassy Murders

“He was probably wasting his time, but a capacity for idle curiosity was no handicap for a policeman.”
― Mark Ellis, The Embassy Murders

“A break from the task in hand and a cleared mind usually made him think better.”
― Mark Ellis, The Embassy Murders

“My friend and business partner, Gerald Peyton was 12 minutes late to the funeral. I’d reminded him it started at 2 p.m. “Yeah, yeah, Frank,” he said. “I’ll be there. Just be sure you make it.” Well, here I sat on my thumbs, and he was the no-show. He stopped at a bar and got sloshed, I thought.”
― Ed Lynskey, Death Car

“Thank you, Mr. Wein, but I no longer take investigative cases. I’m retired.”
 
“I understand that, Mr. Ludefance. However, I have looked into your background, and I am convinced you are the only person who can help me.”
 
“Mr. Wein, that doesn’t change anything. As I said, I’m no longer working as a private investigator. I don’t mean to be rude, but the answer is no.”
 
“Mr. Ludefance? Have you ever been in a desperate situation?”
― Behcet Kaya, Murder at Tutley Brewery: A Jack Ludefance Novel

“I wasn’t sure Turner was still listening to me. Then again, he was the one concentrating on driving through this mess. It felt eerie. There wasn’t a single car on the road except us. No snowplows, nothing. Everything was buried under a layer of white. It was as if we’d been dropped in the middle of some alien planet.”
― Behcet Kaya, Murder at Tutley Brewery: A Jack Ludefance Novel

“Still grumbling, he climbed back up, replaced the light, and switched it on. Out of the corner of his eye, something faintly blue caught his attention. He looked down into the tank and gasped. A body lay face down, floating atop the fermenting liquid, long dark hair spread out around it. What had once been a bright blue dress was now darkened by the liquid, and the shoeless feet were beginning to sink.”
― Behcet Kaya, Murder at Tutley Brewery: A Jack Ludefance Novel

“A check girl in peach-bloom Chinese pajamas came over to take my hat and disapprove of my clothes. She had eyes like strange sins.”
― Raymond Chandler, The High Window

“Why is everybody against my decision?”
 
“Because both Melina and I care about you. We’re your best friends. It’s time you got back to the work you love.”
 
“And you both are sure I should take this case, because your consciences say so?”
 
“Jack, it’s the right thing to do.”
 
“I’m with Erik,” Melina affirmed.
 
“This isn’t fair. The two of you are ganging up on me.”
 
“It’s the right thing to do,” they said in unison.”
― Behcet Kaya, Murder at Tutley Brewery: A Jack Ludefance Novel

“Al Hickey: It's not about anything.
Frank Boggs: Yeah, it's about four hundred grand”
― Phillip Rock, Hickey & Boggs

“In the detective story, as in its mirror image, the Quest for the Grail, maps (the ritual of space) and timetables (the ritual of time) are desirable. Nature should reflect its human inhabitants, i.e., it should be the Great Good Place; for the more Eden-like it is, the greater the contradiction of murder. The country is preferable to the town, a well-to-do neighborhood (but not too well-to-do-or there will be a suspicion of ill-gotten gains) better than a slum. The corpse must shock not only because it is a corpse but also because, even for a corpse, it is shockingly out of place, as when a dog makes a mess on a drawing room carpet."

(The guilty vicarage: Notes on the detective story, by an addict, Harper's Magazine, May 1948)”
― W.H. Auden

“Al Hickey: [following the final shootout] Nobody came... nobody cares. It's still not about anything.
Frank Boggs: Yeah, you told me.”
― Phillip Rock, Hickey & Boggs

“If the lady loves her husband, she does not love your Majesty.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Collection

“You're a private detective.”
"That's right.”
“What do you detect?”
“Right now? Subtle condescension.”
― Dann McDorman, West Heart Kill

“The Moonstone is the first, the longest, and the best of modern English detective novels. But it is something more important than that; it is the best of all the novels written by that man who among the novelists of the nineteenth century was in every way the most closely associated with Charles Dickens. You cannot appreciate Collins without taking Dickens into account; and the work of Dickens after 1850 would not be what it is but for the reciprocal influence of Collins.”
― Eliot, T.S.

“Frank, have you seen today’s obits?” Gerald asked.
“Never look at them,” I replied. “I only read the comics, sports, and horoscopes.”
“Can’t you see I’m being serious?”
“Who bit the dust, then?”
― Ed Lynskey, Iceman

“The idea of happiness pitching up in my life like that all of a sudden it terrified me”
― Hisashi Kashiwai, The Kamogawa Food Detectives

“Well, you are my best friend, and I certainly hope I can be yours.

You may regret saying that, Ellie. I'm not particularly good at friendship. In all honesty, I haven't even tried.”
― Anna Lane, Retribution

“Headstones, they aren’t for the dead, they’re for the living.”
― S.K. Waters, The Dead Won't Tell

“HE FELL DOWN HARD—stone-cold dead, next to my feet. It didn’t take much—just a pull of the trigger. The way I figured; a bullet always had its way of settling things. It asked no questions. Just did what it was told. And I hadn’t planned on resolving my disagreement with the Thin Man that way. But he left me no choice. He pulled his Luger, deciding that one of his .28s was the only way to resolve the issue. Trouble was, he missed. But a .22 from my Colt didn’t.”
― Oliver Dean Spencer, The Case of the Runaway Orangutan

“The intentions are not born, they are seeds planted by mentors during one's youth, and it is watered by them periodically until it sprouts into a hideous flower, and only learns to grow until someone rips the root from the mind.” (psychologist)
“Are you saying he watched his parents eat people?”
“No, habits are usually not directly nurtured from the source. They are created by the culprit as a way to cope with the level of absence in their hearts. They need to feel something, whether it be guilt or exhilaration. Though identifying a passion has trials, it’s common for criminals to experiment before they stick with a system of how to commit the crime.”
{The Latent Identities Of Darwin}”
― FinPoet

“This piece of literature, in particular, seems to have greater a moral purpose and tendency to deviate from the customary concept of art. It’s an odd style, would appear that this nameless author is trying to revolutionize voice.”
{The Latent Identities Of Darwin}”
― FinPoet

“What mystery novels need are – some might call me old-fashioned – a great detective, a mansion, a shady cast of residents, bloody murders, impossible crimes and never-before-seen tricks played by the murderer. Call it my castle in the sky, but I’m happy as long as I can enjoy such a world. But always in an intellectual manner.”
― Yukito Ayatsuji, The Decagon House Murders

“The look she gave under her eyelashes to Lady Valentina was indeed familial. In my line of work, I'd seen it before; it usually ends with someone dying under mysterious circumstances, along with a lost will, and the police involved.”
― Byrd Nash, Ghost Talker

“My Papa thinks I should take a break from detecting for a while.”
― Kitty Felde, State of the Union

“But, if you're going to analyse impossible situations,' interrupted Pettis, 'why discuss detective fiction?'

'Because,' said the doctor, frankly, 'we're in a detective story, and we don't fool the reader by pretending we're not. Let's not invent elaborate excuses to drag in a discussion of detective stories. Let's candidly glory in the noblest pursuits possible to characters in a book.”
― John Dickson Carr, The Hollow Man

“All Detroit is divided into three parts: the automobile industry, the city government, and the casinos. Of those parts, only one has never had to go to Washington to beg for money. Guess which.”
― Loren D. Estleman, Smoke on the Water

“The large conveyor lurked amongst the crowded multitudes. Yes, death would soon reap its glorious gaping maw upon the gathered masses, sending slashed bodies out to the farthest reaches. He watched his work from on high. His brilliant plan is now displayed in fiery death.”
― Bradford Bennett, Edwin Steelside Searching out the Devil

“Here's what Literary Titan had to say about my new book, Moving Targets:Moving Targets is a warm, character-driven detective thriller with several mysteries braided through one man’s changing life. It’s strongest when the cases and relationships feed each other, because Miles’s talent as an investigator comes from the same place as his friendships: he notices things, he cares, and he follows through. The book is part mystery, part community portrait, and part grief story, and that mix gives it more emotional weight than a standard case-of-the-week thriller.”
― Harry Pinkus, Moving Targets (3)