The mystery story is two stories in one: the story of what happened and the story of what appeared to happen. — Mary Roberts Rinehart Copy Share Image
“A good mystery keeps you up on Saturday night. A bad mystery puts you to sleep on Sunday afternoon. Either way, you… — Elizabeth Jane Howard Copy Share Image
A mystery novel localizes the awesome force of the real death outside the book, winds it tightly in a plot. — Don DeLillo Copy Share Image
[On Dashiell Hammett:] ... he is so hard-boiled you could roll him on the White House lawn. — Dorothy Parker Copy Share Image
“Humanity thrown together in the equivalent of a Petri dish under a microscope bred malignant organisms as often as benign.” — B.V. Lawson Copy Share Image
“The pulse of New York City can be found on the bent elbows of the patrons in Pete's Tavern.” — Mickey Wyte Copy Share Image
At least half the mystery novels published violate the law that the solution, once revealed, must seem to be inevitable. — Raymond Chandler Copy Share Image
Poems are taught as though the poet has put a secret key in his words and it is the reader's job to… — Natalie Goldberg Copy Share Image
Ah, there's nothing like tea in the afternoon. When the British Empire collapses, historians will find that it had made but two… — Ayn Rand Copy Share Image
I love mystery novels... I love seeing the dramas played out in academic departments, particularly English departments. I started reading these when… — Natasha Trethewey Copy Share Image
“Lottie did everything the old fashioned way, including the bookkeeping, which was fine with me since I knew nothing about accounting software… — Kate Collins Copy Share Image
My father was sleepless most of his life. So by the age of five, I was awake with him all night long,… — Sherman Alexie Copy Share Image
When I was in my early 20s, my dream was to write mystery novels. I wanted to do what my favourite crime… — Linwood Barclay Copy Share Image
For many years, I read mystery novels for relaxation. But my tastes were too narrow - and, having read all of Agatha… — John Updike Copy Share Image
“But Erin let it slide. The child was only four years old; she had a whole lifetime to learn about sadness. Today… — Carl Hiaasen Copy Share Image
Katherine Heiny's work does something magical: elevates the mundane so that it has the stakes of a mystery novel, gives women's interior… — Lena Dunham Copy Share Image
Do you solemnly swear never to conceal a vital clue from the reader? Do you promise to observe seemly moderation in the… — Dorothy L. Sayers Copy Share Image
“I stared at the list, as though willing the murderer's name to appear in red letters before my eyes. I felt I… — Ashley Weaver Copy Share Image
Executive Severance, a laugh out loud comic mystery novel, epitomizes our current cultural moment in that it is born from the juxtaposition… — Marleen S. Barr Copy Share Image
I don't believe that murders can be "solved." I think that this is the big lie of the mystery novel, that you… — George Pelecanos Copy Share Image
I had thought for years, probably 30 or 40 years, that it would be a lot of fun to try my hand… — Alan Bradley Copy Share Image
“She raised her head again. "Aren't you supposed to come over all manly man and forbid the little lady from taking such… — Dana Stabenow Copy Share Image
“I had the choice—I could once again pretend and recite the words that would turn me into a powerful king. I could… — Ian Tuason Copy Share Image
I think authors are just realizing there's no real reason to feel limited to a narrow set of genre rules in their… — Patrick Rothfuss Copy Share Image
“There are always messages, even enigmas to be searched, mysteries to be solved in all of my books. I like to puzzle… — Ana Claudia Antunes Copy Share Image
“In almost every thriller, a point is reached when someone, usually calling from a phone booth, telephones with a vital piece of… — Renata Adler Copy Share Image
“I tried to lose myself in books. Our house is packed with them, and we keep adding more. Like my mother, I… — Hillary Rodham Clinton Copy Share Image
“Anxious to defend his adopted city—especially his side of town, the less fashionable west end—Eli considered giving Veronica a condensed lecture on… — Max Everhart Copy Share Image
“As a matter of fact I don’t care two pins about accuracy. Who is accurate? Nobody nowadays. If a reporter writes that… — Agatha Christie Copy Share Image
“A good friend will help you move, but a true friend will help you move a body.” — Steven J. Daniels Copy Share Image
“Injustice, large and small, was like sour, moldy bread. Consumed often enough, it brought on hunger for the meat of revenge.” — B.V. Lawson Copy Share Image
make no mistake about it, the detective-story is part of the literature of escape, and not of expression. — Dorothy L. Sayers Copy Share Image
It's important to write a mystery novel where the takeaway is not a giveaway - where something could be read over and… — Jimenez Lai Copy Share Image
If I had a bookstore I would make all the mystery novels hard to find. — Demetri Martin Copy Share Image
“Jay prepared himself to face the woman who must be at either side of emotions to be with him today - extreme… — Mita Jain Copy Share Image
“Whenever I hear someone make a highly improbable assumption, I always ask, "What's your second choice?” — Tom Haikin Copy Share Image
![“[On Dashiell Hammett:] ... he is so hard-boiled you could roll him on the White House lawn.” quote by Dorothy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/q/img-quotes/e36/dorothy-parker-700_hard_on-dashiell-hammett-he-is-so-hard-boiled_2017062.jpg)
