Minotaur Books

“That’s the thing about being a cop in a small town. Policing is a hell of a lot more personal. You know the people you’ve sworn to serve and protect. Whether it’s to write a speeding ticket, round up escaped livestock, pull someone’s dog from a frozen pond, or tell parents their teenage son has wrapped his Mustang around a tree and didn’t survive, you know them. You know the families. You know their strengths and weaknesses. You know their secrets. Sometimes that personal connection hurts because you have a job to do and there’s no one else.”
― Linda Castillo, An Evil Heart

“Criminals keep terrible hours. They work nights. Weekends. Holidays. You name it and they’re out there, wreaking havoc. Shortly before I began my law enforcement career, I did a ride-along with a veteran officer in Columbus, and I’ll never forget what he told me. “If you want to see action, schedule your ride-along for the graveyard shift,” he’d said. “That’s when the zombies come out. That’s when you find out what really goes on after the sun goes down. That’s when you’ll know if you have what it takes.”
― Linda Castillo, An Evil Heart

“Sometimes the old-age serenity thing is crap.”
― Becky Masterman, We Were Killers Once

“I used to subscribe to the belief that a person’s loved ones are the people who know them best. It wasn’t until I had some life experience under my belt that I learned the premise couldn’t be farther from the truth. Sometimes a person’s loved ones are the last to know—or the last to acknowledge—a fault or weakness. That’s especially true when you’re Amish.”
― Linda Castillo, An Evil Heart