Quotes from Val McDermid

Attractive smile, Carol added to her list of particulars as she shook the hand.

Tony got up from his desk and crouched down beside her. She was instantly aware of the smell of him, a mixture of shampoo and his own fain, animal scent.

The only common touch he'd wanted was the one where he got to slap them senseless.

I've read the stories. Teenagers committing suicide because all they can see ahead of them is shame and disgrace. Kids running away from home because they feel like they've list their future. Well, I'm not having that happen to Torin.

Tell you what, just to prove I'm not, I'll let you top tonight. You'll be in charge. I'll be the one with handcuffs on.' Carry on like this and you won't be wrong, Merrick thought to himself.

Stacy hated people who abused digital systems. It affronted her that they had fatally undermined the fundamental beauty and purity of the internet. They'd corrupted the most revolutionary invention of the twentieth century and turned it into an engine for triviality, for vitriol, for scamming...

But I do sometimes wonder whether the technology has de-skilled us as detectives.

I'm telling you the truth, Carol. Even though it's actually none of your business.' She half turned, found a smile from somewhere and said, 'You're quite right. It is none of my business. Till tomorrow Tony.

If only this mist would clear, it would be a lovely day, she said faintly. And if only the clouds would thicken up it would be a miserable day, Mr. Allen contributed from behind the paper. It is what it is.

But also, surprisingly, Charles Willeford, Ken Bruen and James Sallis.

That's where I want to start.' George scratched his head. 'I don't suppose you know how they're all related?' he asked, staring down at the map Tommy Clough had sketched out for him.

How did these nuns end up with such grand accommodation? Last he'd heard, they were supposed to be all about poverty, chastity and obedience. Still, as Meatloaf pointed out, two out of three ain't bad.

in a group that she was convinced were all better than her

She didn't believe in bearing grudges. She believed in killing them where they lay.

And those that there are tend to be so deep in the closet you could mistake them for a clothes hanger.

You're a very unusual man, Mark,? she'd said. ?That's nice of you to say so,? he said. You have no idea.

Her fight with alcohol had made for contentious exchanges and, if that were possible, even more contentious silences. Tony, empathetic to the point of self-harming, felt the pain of her abstinence as powerfully as anything he'd ever endured personally.

We weren't joined at the hip but there was never a day apart that we wouldn't rather have spent in each other's company.

One of the hardest things we have to do is learn to take responsibility for our own actions. Trying to sidestep actions that deep down we know are shameful is a powerful instinct. From Reading Crimes by DR TONY HILL

clichés got that way because they reflected reality. Better the devil you know. Don't take sweets from strangers.

The name hung between them like a motionless pendulum, waiting for a push to set it in motion.

Within the infant rind of this weak flower Poison hath residence and medicine power' Romeo and Juliet, II, iii

when us profilers

But she was a good boss, Sam. The best I've ever had.