“The rest of the band faded down to almost nothing while my dad did his best Bill Evans impression — except hopefully… — Ben Aaronovitch Copy Share Image
“Your ghost,' she said, 'Nicholas Nickleby. Do you think he might still be at the crime scene?' 'How should I know?' I… — Ben Aaronovitch Copy Share Image
“Which meant I spent my spare time learning theory, studying dead languages and reading books like Essays on The Metaphysical by John… — Ben Aaronovitch Books Copy Share Image
When you're a boy your life can be measured out as a series of uncomfortable conversations reluctantly initiated by adults in an… — Ben Aaronovitch Adults Copy Share Image
“THE TROUBLE with the old boy network is you can never be really sure whether it’s switched on or not and whether… — Ben Aaronovitch Copy Share Image
“Could it have been anyone, or was it destiny? When I'm considering this I find it helpful to quote the wisdom of… — Ben Aaronovitch Destiny Copy Share Image
“Abigail stared suspiciously at Lesley. "Why are you wearing a mask?" she asked. "Because my face fell off," said Lesley. Abigail considered… — Ben Aaronovitch Copy Share Image
“Zap,’ I said. ‘That’s the technical term for it, is it? What do you call someone who’s been zapped?’ ‘Mr. Crispy,’ said… — Ben Aaronovitch Copy Share Image
“She got me logged in, which was a suspicous amount of help and attention from a Detective Inspector, and explained the priority… — Ben Aaronovitch Copy Share Image
If you just warn people, they often simply ignore you. But if you ask them a question, then they have to think… — Ben Aaronovitch Calm Copy Share Image
What frustrated me was the thought that with three thousand years of history someone in China, some monk in a monastery halfway… — Ben Aaronovitch Bamboo Copy Share Image
“As soon as we stopped sleeping with our cousins and build walls, temples and a few decent nightclubs, society became too complex… — Ben Aaronovitch Bureaucracy Copy Share Image
“I didn’t tell him that it was all stored as binary information on rapidly spinning shiny discs, partly because I’d have to… — Ben Aaronovitch Technology Copy Share Image
“We can't have your people fighting each other," I said. The 'royal we' is very important in police work; it reminds the… — Ben Aaronovitch Police Copy Share Image
Landscaping is the great cardinal sin of modern architecture. It's not your garden, it's not a park - it's a formless patch… — Ben Aaronovitch Architecture Copy Share Image
“I'd been too intent on the room to hear her coming up the stairs. Leslie said that the capacity not to notice… — Ben Aaronovitch Dance Copy Share Image
“He was transparent, the way holograms in films are transparent.Three dimensional, definitely really there and fucking...transparent.” — Ben Aaronovitch Holograms Copy Share Image
“Kumar and I ended up stuffing tissue paper up our nostrils, but agreed that if we had to come down again more… — Ben Aaronovitch Humor Copy Share Image
For a terrifying moment I thought he was going to hug me, but fortunately we both remembered we were English just in… — Ben Aaronovitch Hug Copy Share Image
“There's more to life than just London," said Nightingale. "People keep saying that," I said. "But I've never actually seen any proof.” — Ben Aaronovitch Life Copy Share Image
The motto of West African cooking is that if the food doesn't set fire to the tablecloth the cook is being stingy… — Ben Aaronovitch Cooking Copy Share Image
“You shouldn’t make jokes about these things,” she said. “Science doesn’t have all the answers, you know.” “It’s got all the best… — Ben Aaronovitch Jokes Copy Share Image
“He was one of those people who constantly seems to be having a conversation with someone other than the person he’s actually… — Ben Aaronovitch Communication Copy Share Image
“This is why magic is worse even than quantum physics. Because, while both spit in the eye of common sense, I've never… — Ben Aaronovitch Magic Copy Share Image
“I showed her my warrant card, and she stared at it in confusion. You get that about half the time, mainly because… — Ben Aaronovitch Copy Share Image
...don't ask me why I know what an Edwardian smoking jacket looks like: let's just say it has something to do with… — Ben Aaronovitch Copy Share Image
“Who made the 999 call?" "Dunno," said Purdy. "Mobile, probably." It's officers like Purdy that give the Metropolitan Police its sterling reputation… — Ben Aaronovitch Customer service Copy Share Image
“I looked into the literature on this," said Nightingale, "and it wasn't very helpful." "There's a literature about this?" "You'd be amazed,… — Ben Aaronovitch Books Copy Share Image
“I was tempted to tell her it was because we were British and actually had a sense of humour, but I try… — Ben Aaronovitch British Copy Share Image
“The voice belonged to a plump, round-faced woman of the sort that develops a good personality because the alternative is suicide.” — Ben Aaronovitch Good person Copy Share Image
“For a certain generation of African immigrants cleaning offices became part of the culture like male circumcision and supporting Arsenal.” — Ben Aaronovitch Diaspora Copy Share Image
“Officially she was there to liaise with me on the case, but really she was there for the wide-screen TV, takeaways and… — Ben Aaronovitch Raison d'etre Copy Share Image
“I find it helpful to quote the wisdom of my father, who once told me, "Who knows why the fuck anything happens?” — Ben Aaronovitch Father Copy Share Image
“He was from Yorkshire, or somewhere like that, and like many Northerners with issues, he'd moved to London as a cheap alternative… — Ben Aaronovitch Copy Share Image
“(...) I headed over the river to the address listed on Mr Wilkinson's driving licence to see whether there was anyone who… — Ben Aaronovitch Copy Share Image
“A major investigation, once it gets underway, is as exciting as watching reruns of Big Brother, although possibly involving less sex and… — Ben Aaronovitch Big brother Copy Share Image
“I wasn't sure I found that particularly reassuring, but in the event of an attack I wasn't going to be as much… — Ben Aaronovitch Reassuring Copy Share Image
“I left in a hurry before he could change his mind, but I want to make it clear that at no point… — Ben Aaronovitch Psychology Copy Share Image
“Or at least of fending him off for long enough that we can sweep in heroically like the Seventh Cavalry.’ Burning tipis… — Ben Aaronovitch Cavalry Copy Share Image
This I know for a fact: the reason African women have children is so that there's someone else to do the housework. — Ben Aaronovitch African women Copy Share Image
