[On Dashiell Hammett:] ... he is so hard-boiled you could roll him on the White House lawn. — Dorothy Parker 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
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
“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
“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
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
“A good friend will help you move, but a true friend will help you move a body.” — Steven J. Daniels 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
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
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
“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
There were a lot of adventure books for boys, historical novels by Kenneth Roberts, and whatever mystery novels the alarmed librarian imagined… — Peter Straub Copy Share Image
“The part she hated most in mystery novels was where someone had a key piece of information but didn’t tell anyone. That… — India Drummond Copy Share Image
“People’s lives are delicate; you cannot interfere with them without running the risk of changing them profoundly. A chance remark, a careless… — Alexander McCall Smith Copy Share Image
“I started out a human being. But pretty much had all the humanity wrung out of me after passing the Bar and… — Jeffrey Rasley Copy Share Image
“All your doing is keeping wayward teenage punks off the sreet. You should leave the real investigative work to us big girls… — Diane Moore 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
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 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
“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 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
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
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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“Whenever I hear someone make a highly improbable assumption, I always ask, "What's your second choice?” — Tom Haikin 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
If I had a bookstore I would make all the mystery novels hard to find. — Demetri Martin 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
One key to the distinction between mystery and suspense writing involves the relative positions of hero and reader. In the ideal mystery… — Carolyn Wheat Copy Share Image
Detective stories keep alive a view of the world which ought to be true. Of course people read them for fun ...… — Dorothy L. Sayers Copy Share Image
When I am thickening my plots, I like to think 'What if ... What if ... ' Thus my imagination can move… — Patricia Highsmith Copy Share Image
“I do tasks for the gods, usually things like tracking down rare items or taking someone safely to a destination." D'Molay the… — M.Scott Verne Copy Share Image
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