Tense Quotes

“The Alchemy Scroll works on the heart,” he said. “It plants words as I plant stones. The Scroll-maker is my brother. He paints the mysteries of God while I, guided by the Mother, built the new Hall as a door to heaven,” he said.”
― Susan Rowland, The Alchemy Fire Murder

“Mary stared at the dreamlike happenings on the page. Human figures faced each other; the man’s head was a golden ball with rays reaching up to huge stars and out to the distant mountains; the woman’s silver head was sickle-shaped and surrounded by birds like eagles with white beaks. Some of the black letters glowed because they had tips like tiny flames.”
― Susan Rowland, The Alchemy Fire Murder

“We’re so very sorry about this latest murder. Ignore Simon’s levity.”
― Susan Rowland, Murder on Family Grounds

“  Mary fought a savage impulse to slam the door on the couple. But they were too interesting to ignore in the circumstances of the murder. She caught sight of Richard spitting out a mouthful of hair.”
― Susan Rowland, Murder on Family Grounds

“Mary tried to look reassuring. “It’s a house party, he said,” she directed at the Falconers, “Sir Viktor’s holding a house party for the convenience of the police. It’s like an old-fashioned mystery novel.”
― Susan Rowland, Murder on Family Grounds

“Josh's heart soared as he got a taste of the power and endurance in his elk body.”
― Lisa Kaniut Cobb, Down in the Valley

“Miranda's reward to herself, after a chief investigator dubbed her "the Eloise of four-year-old detectives," was to stretch her age.  She’d now taken to informing people that she was four- and-a-half-and-three-quarters. She didn't seem to grasp the concept of almost-five.”
― Theasa Tuohy, Mademoiselle le Sleuth

“Legends were mostly bullshit, even his own, but they sometimes could be useful.”
― William Kely McClung, Black Fire

“Victor's tortured eyes blazed down at her, and for a moment she was afraid.  Then he leaned down and dissolved into tears in the arms of Celena who was only six.”
― Barbara Sontheimer, Victor's Blessing

“Nearing the Riefler's big red brick house he could see the yellow light spill out on the galerie Yvonne had insisted her German husband wrap around the house.  There was a tightening in Victor's chest.  It happened to him whenever he got close to the Riefler's house, or church on Sunday- anytime he thought he might catch a glimpse of Celena.”
― Barbara Sontheimer, Victor's Blessing

“There’s no point in fighting me on this. Wherever you go, one, or both of us will be with you. Period. Get used to it. Short of actually sleeping on your doorstep, I’m going to follow you everywhere. I’m going to be so close that if you turn your head for a breath I’ll be there to give you mouth-to-mouth. So, you may as well just give in and take me with you. It’ll save us both a lot of time and frustration.”
― Lotchie Burton, Gabriel's Fire

“If he could blush through his fur, he would have.”
― Lisa Kaniut Cobb, Down in the Valley

“Oh, so now I'm getting in trouble for things I didn't tell anyone I didn't know?”
― Lisa Kaniut Cobb, Down in the Valley

“With Finn, Vic, and Maeve shooting darts at him, Buster thought better of bellyaching and took off down the street with Finn.”
― A.G. Russo, The Cases Nobody Wanted

“She knew how people slipped through cracks—not all at once, but in layers.”
― D.L. Maddox, The Dog Walker: The Prequel

“The telegram was sealed – an old-fashioned touch, I thought, but then I’d never had a telegram before. I took my time opening it. I said nothing.”
― Michael Wyndham Thomas, The Erkeley Shadows

“Her name wasn’t Jane. Not legally. But she wore it now like a uniform: plain, practical, invisible.”
― D.L. Maddox, The Dog Walker: The Prequel

“It was the tone of a woman who wrapped needles in silk.”
― D.L. Maddox, The Dog Walker: The Prequel

“t felt like stepping into a spa, or a dream, or a memory she hadn’t known she missed.”
― D.L. Maddox, The Dog Walker: The Prequel

“Flipping through, the first thing she came across was a restaurant menu featuring animals and rodents in a reference to the starvation of residents during the Siege of Paris of 1870-71 − horse soup, dog cutlets, ragout of cat, roast ostrich, fricassee of rats and mice? The French and their obsession with food presentation.”
― Theasa Tuohy, Mademoiselle le Sleuth

“Exactement," said Vidal. "We surmise the killer limp off with use of a cane. The lights man must have seen the interloper, made to intervene, and was beaten by the cane and then garroted with it by the ropes, making lights to go out."
 ”
― Theasa Tuohy, Mademoiselle le Sleuth

“Counselor Bingham and I looked inside, then looked at each other. He counted. Then I counted. There were thirteen mobile phones in the box, two of them were Android. The rest were all iPhones.”
― Behcet Kaya, Uncanny Alliance

“Kowkosvki? You handling this?”
“I am.”
The suit turned and stared at me with his dark eyes. “Detective Hayden. I take it you’re the shooter?”
“I am.”
“And you are?”
“Jack Ludefance. I’m a PI hired by Mr. Kingsley to investigate the murder of Professor Zambear.”
“Oh, yeah, I heard about you. Who’s in the bedroom?”
“Rudy Orkut. My computer tech.”
“Computer tech, huh? Any idea who this dead body is?”
“Not a clue.”
― Behcet Kaya, Uncanny Alliance

“I opened my eyes to the sound of my phone ringing. The bedside clock read 10:05 PM. Rudy’s name displayed on my phone.
“Rudy? Where are you?”
“Boss, I’m okay, really. It’s just that my car broke down. I’m near a city called…hold on a sec, a city called Beaumont, Texas.”
“But you’re alright? Where’s your car right now? What’s wrong with it?”
― Behcet Kaya, Uncanny Alliance

“Anika nodded, reflecting on her situation as the sirens grew louder. She had some time, but cops, hurricanes, and jealous women weren’t the party favors she’d expected for her homecoming parade.”
― Chad Boudreaux, Homecoming Queen: A Small-Town Political Thriller

“Swamp.”
“Yeah, Hiker?”
“What’s bothering you besides this new case?”
I looked at him. How did he know? My recollections of my days at the naval academy came flooding back.
“Bothering me?”
“Yeah. Don’t make me repeat myself.”
― Behcet Kaya, Uncanny Alliance

“As soon as the first ring finished, I heard his voice, “Hello, Boss! Do we have a case?”
I had to laugh. Rudy was, to say the least, a strange young man for many reasons, but he’d become invaluable to me in helping solve my last three cases.
“Your presumption is correct, Rudy. Yes, we have a case. It’s just your kind of job and I need you here ASAP.”
― Behcet Kaya, Uncanny Alliance

“Mary had typed one line to finish her dissertation – ‘So a life’s work was finally complete’. As an afterthought she had written in pencil, probably after her dissertation had been assessed: ‘What was the red stone that Samuel Fowler disposed of?”
― Robert Reid, The Empress:

“Alexandra Malkovic woke out of the nightmare that had bedevilled her sleep for days. She sat up, shivering, her heart thumping. For a few seconds she could not recognise her surroundings, then the outlines of the sparse furnishings of the room solidified in the faint moonlight coming through a gap in the curtains. This was her room in the house they had commandeered in Bihac, the city Tito’s Partisans had captured after a bitter battle a few weeks before Christmas – a battle in which she had played an important part. This was safety, an end to the long weeks on the march, sleeping on the hard ground, alert always to the sound of movement in the surrounding forest and the distant howling of wolves. So why could she not sleep in peace?”
― Holly Green, A Call to Home

“Her firm belief was that things would be better in society if there was a periodic ‘social cleansing’ to eliminate those influences that are considered unsavory. She sounds like she’d be fun at parties,” the officer joked.”
― Kathleen Lopez, Thirteen for Dinner