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Detective Quotes

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Detective Quotes

“So, sometimes it’s necessary to level the board. Sometimes when the bad guy keeps winning, the questions of right and wrong get a little cloudy. When that situation is created then it becomes necessary to do the right thing even if it’s technically the wrong thing or there’s no justice. And there are people that do that. The Baba Yaga’s of the world.”

FearMysteryDyingDangerFast PacedExhilaratingTruthsDetectiveCrime ThrillersGrey Morals
Book:The Deathbed Confessions
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“Veterinary medicine is in many ways like the noble art of the detective. It is all about using logic and careful observation from a starting point (case history and physical exam), gathering clues (running tests), and piecing those facts and clues together to come up with a solution (diagnosis and treatment). Critical thinking and problem solving in the context of animal illness is the real work of the veterinarian. And now, for the first time ever, you can work your way through actual cases just like a vet does…without getting a drop of blood or slobber on you!”

CasesLogicAnimalsDetectiveVeterinarianVeterinary
Book:Fuzzy Logic: Think Like a Veterinarian
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“All people, whether Aspie or neuro-typical are predisposed by their society to make guesses, jump to conclusions and then seek to defend those conclusions, regardless of logic or changing circumstance. This is sloppy, illogical thinking which may not hinder your life too much, under normal circumstances. But if you want to be a great detective, then such thinking will absolutely ruin your chances.”

LogicReasoningAutismDetectivesGuessingDetectiveAutism SpectrumAspergersAspergers SyndromeGuessDeductionAsperger
Book:Trueman Bradley - The Next Great Detective
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“I used to believe, bless my naive little heart, that I had something to offer the robbed dead. Not revenge-there’s no revenge in the world that could return the tiniest fraction of what they’ve lost-and not justice, whatever that means, but the one thing left to give them: the truth. I was good at it. I had one, at least, of the things that make a great detective: the instinct for truth, the inner magnet whose pull tells you beyond any doubt what’s dross, what’s alloy, and what’s the pure, uncut metal. I dug out the nuggets without caring when they cut my fingers and brought them in my cupped hands to lay on graves, until I found out-Operation Vestal again-how slippery they were, how easily they crumbled, how deep they sliced and, in the end, how very little they were worth.”

TruthDetectiveTana FrenchThe LikenessCassie Maddox
Book:The Likeness
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“I had chosen to play the detective—and if there is one thing that unites all the detectives I've ever read about, it's their inherent loneliness. The suspects know each other. They may well be family or friends. But the detective is always the outsider. He asks the necessary questions but he doesn't actually form a relationship with anyone. He doesn't trust them, and they in turn are afraid of him. It's a relationship based entirely on deception and it's one that, ultimately, goes nowhere. Once the killer has been identified, the detective leaves and is never seen again. In fact, everyone is glad to see the back of him.”

LonelinessSuspectsMurder MysteryLonerDetectiveOutsiderAnthony HorowitzMagpie MurdersGenre Conventions
Book:Magpie Murders
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“It is impossible to pinpoint just how much stress comes to bear on detectives involved in an investigation of the scope of the missing girls' cases, but anyone who is close to homicide detectives sees the tension, the incredible pressure brought on by their responsibilities. If a corporation president carries the responsibility of bringing in or losing profits, homicide detectives - particularly in cases like the "Ted" disappearances - are truly dealing with life and death, working against time and almost impossible odds. It is a profession that brings with it the occupational hazards of ulcers, hypertension, coronary disease, and, on occasion, alcoholism. The public, the victims' families, the press, superiors - all demand immediate action.”

ResultsHealthPressureTensionJobDetectiveHazard
Book:The Stranger Beside Me: Ted Bundy: The Shocking Inside Story
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“My best advice to myself was to act like I’d been there before. I was in way over my head, and I was not skating down the line between good and bad anymore. I tried to justify my actions by reminding myself that it was part of my investigation but even I couldn’t fool myself that much. I drained my glass and then drained the one that Sara handed me. In no way, was this evening turning out to have career building opportunity written on it. I was getting more nervous by the minute.”

ActionPowerfulGriefRevengeThrillerSecretsDetectiveSerial KillersInvestigatorSolving Crime
Author:Michael Deeze
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“If you're good at this job, and I am, then every step in a murder case moves you in one direction: towards order. We get thrown shards of senseless wreckage, and we piece them together until we can lift the picture out of the darkness and hold it up to the white light of day, solid, complete, clear. Under all the paperwork and the politics, this is the job; this is its cool shining heart that I love with every fiber of mine. This case was different. It was running backwards, dragging us with it on some ferocious ebb tide. Every step washed us deeper in black chaos, wrapped us tighter in tendrils of crazy and pulled us downwards.”

MurderMetaphorInvestigationDetectiveTana FrenchBroken Harbor
Book:Broken Harbour
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“The general’s daughter swept into the room like an angelic visitation. Never seen such a vision of the feminine in my life. It hit me between the eyes like someone pressed a live telegraph wire to the back of my head. She came amongst us boys so coquettish and alight with laughter that we all took on dumbfounded stupidity, not quite knowing what to say or how to act.”

FantasyMysteryExcitingWesternYaSci FiQuirkyDetectiveCulturalHistorical Culture
Book:Dire Wolf of the Quapaw: a Jubal Smoak Mystery
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“A smile is hidden beneath the mustache, it crinkles the corners of his hooded eyes. “I didn’t. I have other business in town and I told my friend I would attend to the matter of his son, as he could not do so himself.” “Very kind of you.” “Yes. I have been looking forward to it for quite some time.” Daddy’s lemonade is almost gone, he sips it carefully, turning his eyes back to the water. “Looking forward to seeing the lad or to conducting your business?” Daddy is toying with him. “Both. You see, I had never actually met his son.” The glass rests against Daddy’s lips, unmoving. Mr. Geyer watches him closely. “But now I have, so I can get on with my,” he fixes his own gaze on the water, as though trying to see whatever it is that has transfixed my father, “business.”

MysteryYoung AdultYaHistorical FictionDetectiveVon StrassenbergGwenn WrightBluestocking GirlViktor Von StrassenbergGeyer
Book:The BlueStocking Girl
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“You can’t set fires, Anna. Never again. Promise.” [Anna] aimed her defiance at Mary. “And you? What’s your reason to hate me?” Caroline spoke quietly. “We nearly died — in the fire in those mountains and at the house when Ravi had a gun pointed at us.” Her eyes were full of tears. “The fire you set at The Old Hospital could have killed me as well as Janet and Agnes.” Anna muttered into the syrupy dregs of her tea. “Fire, you’re firing me?” Mary grimaced. There had been too much fire.”

ActionFictionMurderThrillerRealisticFiction NovelDetective
Book:The Alchemy Fire Murder
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“Saskia groaned again. She threw back her bed covers, the last vestiges of sleep leaving her. It would be evening in Lyon. Clarissa would be expecting to hear from her. A call-in at least once every 24 hours was part of several protocols Clarissa had established. The instruction at the end of the conversation, “Give the dogs a pat for me”, reassured Clarissa that all was well. Leave the words out, replace any one of the words in the sentence with another or not place a call in a 24-hour period, and Clarissa would alert authorities. In her younger years, Clarissa had served in the British army. Her experiences in those years had caused the trauma she now lived with, though she used her expertise by teaching her three partners basic self-defence, how to operate firearms and how to wield weapons. She also programmed their watches and phones to enable her to constantly track their whereabouts, explaining, “I want to know that my three charges are safe”. Another protocol was to always check accommodation venues for listening devices. Saskia did this before calling Clarissa. “Clarissa. Ça va?” “What have you to report?”

ActionFictionCrimeAdventureFast PacedDetectiveOrganised CrimeWomen S AdventureCrime Story
Book:The Forest: A thrilling international crime novel
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“The joey, large-eyed and gangly in the way of almost all young animals, frisked about. He – she – it (Saskia couldn’t tell what sex) batted its front paws at its mother – who straightened from her feeding with a look of resigned patience to fend off the tiny fists before reaching out and enfolding the youngster in her arms. The joey melted into her embrace, touching its nose against her mouth. Saskia took several photos, letting out a small “oooh!” at the cuteness of the interaction. The youngster hopped away and leapt into the air with twists that could be for no other reason than the joy of doing them. Suddenly, it returned to the doe and, once again, interrupted her grazing by thrusting its head into her pouch.”

ActionFictionMysteryThrillerDramaticInvestigationFast PacedFiction NovelDetectiveCrime Story
Book:The Forest: A thrilling international crime novel
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