Detective Murtaugh Quotes

#1. Maybe one sad detective pulling a nuclear weapon on a wagon would slip through their defenses. #Quote by James S.A. Corey

#2. She's so obnoxious. Like a whole Saturday night drunk tank full of obnoxious packed into one little body. Detective Cavuto #Quote by Christopher Moore

#3. And now, what about a Watson? Are we to have a Watson? We are. Death to an author who keeps his unravelling for the last chapter, making all the other chapters but prologue to a five-minute drama. This is no way to write a story. Let us know from chapter to chapter what the detective is thinking. For this he must watsonize or soliloquize; the one is merely a dialogue form of the other, and, by that, more readable. A Watson, then, but not of necessity a fool of a Watson. A little slow, let him be, as so many of us are, but friendly, human, likeable ... #Quote by A.A. Milne

#4. His instinct of a successful man had taught him long ago that, as a general rule, a reputation is built on manner as much as on achievement. And he felt that his manner when confronted with the telegram had not been impressive. He had opened his eyes widely, and had exclaimed 'Impossible!' exposing himself thereby to the unanswerable retort of a finger-tip laid forcibly on the telegram which the Assistant Commissioner, after reading it aloud had flung on the desk. To be crushed, as it were, under the tip of a forefinger was an unpleasant experience. Very damaging too! Furthermore, Chief Inspector Heat was conscious of not having mended matters by allowing himself to express a conviction.
'One thing I can tell you at once: none of our lot had anything to do with this.'
He was strong in his integrity of a good detective, but he saw now that an impenetrably attentive reserve towards this incident would have served his reputation better. On the other hand, he admitted to himself that it was difficult to preserve one's reputation if rank outsiders were going to take a hand in the business. Outsiders are the bane of the police as of other professions. #Quote by Joseph Conrad

#5. Montalbano sat outside reading a good detective novel by two Swedish authors, husband and wife, in which there wasn't a page without a ferocious and justified attack on social democracy and the government. In his mind, Montalbano dedicated the book to all those who did not deign to read mystery novels because, in their opinion, they were only entertaining puzzles. #Quote by Andrea Camilleri

#6. Have you ever wondered, Dogger," I asked, "if wickedness is a chemical state?"
"Indeed I have, Miss Flavia," he said. "I have sometimes thought of little else. #Quote by Alan Bradley

#7. As music migrates into our iPods, CD collections require less and less room, residing in our heads rather than resounding off the walls. The protracted labor of amassing a personal music library has lost its detective zeal. #Quote by James Wolcott

#8. The tin pan notes of a piano drift faintly into the night. A man curses and a window slams. Far distant an ash can clatters on stone and the almost human screech of a cat pierces the night. #Quote by Carroll John Daly

#9. There are websites of 'True Detective' artwork out there now, and it's beautiful. And I don't want to take that away from anybody. I know what it means to me. But I don't want to take away anyone's interpretation of the show. #Quote by Nic Pizzolatto

#10. The Detective was different. Not that he wasn't a good man; Willie had heard enough about him to understand that he was the kind who didn't like to turn away from another's pain, the kind who couldn't put a pillow over his ears to drown out the cries of strangers. Those scars he had were badges of courage, and Willie knew that there were others hidden beneath his clothes, and still more deep inside, right beneath the skin and down to the soul. No, it was just that whatever goodness was there coexisted with rage and grief and loss. #Quote by John Connolly

#11. I started writing novels while an undergraduate student, in an attempt to make sense of the city of Edinburgh, using a detective as my protagonist. Each book hopefully adds another piece to the jigsaw that is modern Scotland, asking questions about the nation's politics, economy, psyche and history ... and perhaps pointing towards its possible future. #Quote by Ian Rankin

#12. Detective Ramos confided in me, 'If something happens to you on my watch my ass is O-U-T.' 'How do you think I'd feel? D-E-A-D. #Quote by Nelson DeMille

#13. I have watched enough cheesy detective television shows in my young life to know that when one is presented with an inexplicable mystery, the first order of business (after procuring good donuts and coffee - check) is to create a wall of clues with photos of suspects and article clippings, preferably in an artistic yet seemingly random fashion. #Quote by J. Lincoln Fenn

#14. Why hadn't she been a detective instead of a goddamn stupid third-class civil rights lawyer? She hated the law. It took an aggressive, assertive personality. She didn't have it. She had a sneaky, sly, shy, squamous personality. She had French diseases of the soul. #Quote by Ursula K. Le Guin

#15. We aren't angels. Angels couldn't breathe the air down here. They'd die. #Quote by James Sallis

#16. When you write, you start with what you know and build from there. I knew a little something about the border, Texas and Mexico from my journalism days. Knew some cops and redneck outlaws, too. And I knew I wanted to write a noirish detective novel. So I started with that and went from there. Out popped Ed Earl Burch, Carla Sue Cantrell and THE LAST SECOND CHANCE: An Ed Earl Burch Novel. #Quote by Jim Nesbitt

#17. See, Curry, Detective Willis felt I was holding back some information and so he sulked off, like all men do when they don't get their way with women they've fooled around with. #Quote by Gillian Flynn

#18. I never was that boy who loved gangster films, but when I was growing up, I was obsessed with the detective Dick Tracy. It was one of my favourite movies as a kid, and he really inspired me. I would have loved to be part of that golden age of Hollywood in the 1940s. It made me want to become an actor. #Quote by Ryan Gosling

#19. After all, the fundamental question of philosophy (like that of psychoanalysis) is the same as the question of the detective novel: who is guilty? #Quote by Umberto Eco

#20. When I was young, I knew William Burroughs really well. And William's secret desire, which he never quite did, was to write a straightforward detective novel. #Quote by Patti Smith

#21. 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. #Quote by Gwenn Wright

#22. It was quite elementary,' returned the detective with a languid gesture of one hand. #Quote by Anthony Horowitz

#23. She assumes," Wax said, "that our detective style isn't normally the punchy-punchy, stabby-stabby type." "To be fair," Wayne said, "it's usually a more shooty-shooty, whacky-whacky type. #Quote by Brandon Sanderson

#24. Although she had only started being a detective, Precious was well aware that you had to be able to show people something if you wanted them to believe it. #Quote by Alexander McCall Smith

#25. Frankly, I wish I could make my heart quit doing an extra thump when Wolfe says satisfactory, Archie. It's childish. #Quote by Rex Stout

#26. History only became more challenging when it became less neat. Every time I pick up a book or document from the past, I'm in a battle with people who lived hundreds of years ago. They have their secrets and obsessions - all the things they won't or can't reveal. It's my job to discover and explain them.'
'What if you can't? What if they defy explanation?'
'That's never happened,' I said after considering his question. 'At least I don't think it has. All you have to do is be a good listener. Nobody really wants to keep secrets, not even the dead. People leave clues everywhere, and if you pay attention, you can piece them together.'
'So you're the historian as detective,' he observed. #Quote by Deborah Harkness

#27. So, I got into the law enforcement game. I worked for an outfit called Newton Detective Agency for a while. I worked eight hours on the waterfront making sure the longshoremen didn't take too many things. #Quote by Clint Walker

#28. I don't feel that I wanted to spend my whole writing life - which is my life - writing detective stories. #Quote by Ruth Rendell

#29. I was so nervous that this was 'True Detective' and that I needed to do a good job that I would just dig into every scene. #Quote by Adria Arjona

#30. He had very few criticisms to make of Precious Ramotswe, his wife and founder of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, but if one were to make a list of her faults - which would be a minuscule document, barely visible, indeed, to the naked eye - one would perhaps have to include a tendency (only a slight tendency, of course) to claim that things that she happened to believe were well known. #Quote by Alexander McCall Smith

#31. She tried to focus on the element of riddle or at least puzzle contained in the letter and ignore the sense of doom that was sweeping through her like clouds rolling to the shore over open water. #Quote by Sara Sheridan

#32. Daytime television, you can tell who's watching by the three kinds of commercials. Either it's clinics for drying out drunks. Or it's law firms who want to settle injury suits. Or it's schools offering mail-order vocational degrees to make you a bookkeeper. A private detective. Or a locksmith. If you're watching daytime television, this is your new demographic. You're a drunk. Or a cripple. Or an idiot. #Quote by Chuck Palahniuk

#33. Politicians should read science fiction, not westerns and detective stories. #Quote by Arthur C. Clarke

#34. Everybody talks to me about 'P.M.s,'" complained Chief Detective-Inspector Alleyn to Inspector Fox on Monday afternoon, "and I never know whether they mean post-mortem or Prime Minister. Really, it's very difficult when you happen to be involved with both. #Quote by Ngaio Marsh

#35. Even if you don't like Poe - he invented the detective story. And science fiction. In essence, he invented a huge part of the twentieth century. #Quote by Donna Tartt

#36. Many reviews are useless because, while purporting to condemn the book, they only reveal the reviewer's dislike of the kind to which it belongs. Let bad tragedies be censured by those who love tragedy, and bad detective stories by those who love the detective story. Then we shall learn their real faults. Otherwise we shall find epics blamed for not being novels, farces for not being high comedies, novels by James for lacking the swift action of Smollett. Who wants to hear a particular claret abused by a fanatical teetotaller, or a particular woman by a confirmed misogynist? #Quote by C.S. Lewis

#37. The perfectly measured burr of a dispassionate detective had suddenly changed into the explosive boom of a take-no-shit street cop.
Suffice it to say, I froze. #Quote by Cleo Coyle

#38. The thing I don't like about detective stories is looking for criminals. #Quote by Natsuo Kirino

#39. We could certainly use a detective. And I've got to hand it to you, Nancy - you sure can keep your head. #Quote by Carolyn Keene

#40. I used to audition for 'NYPD Blue' quite a bit, so I had this stock New York detective character that I would bring in for all their auditions. #Quote by Mark Valley

#41. See, he may come back, sometimes they do, and I hope you don't mind, but I fibbed a little, told the customer she was dating a police detective who never missed a workout. You don't, do you? Ever miss a workout? #Quote by Kristen Ashley

#42. I did my very first film with Kirk in Detective Story when he was the greatest, greatest star in the world. I fell in love with him, had a crush on him then. #Quote by Lee Grant

#43. Ah! Madame, I reserve the explanations for the last chapter. #Quote by Agatha Christie