Quotes from Val McDermid

Cat's passion for atmospheric architecture was only just second to her passion for Henry.

As the poet Philip Larkin famously said, 'They fuck you up, your mum and dad.' Sometimes, it only takes one of them.

So you're a functioning drunk. You don't have to be falling down in the street or pissing yourself or sleeping with unsuitable men or losing whole days at a time to be a drunk.

It looked like speed-dating for the dysfunctional.

macerating what was left of the organs, 'liver, a portion of the heart, a certain

And of course Tom's dad lives there, in Eyam, so he could kill two birds with one stone.

Neanderthals

Once you lose touch, it's easy for it to stay lost.

The key to our present behaviour lies in our past.

You can tell a lot about people by the way they treat other people's office staff.

His face seemed to be in retreat from a sharp nose, as if he'd been caught in the teeth of a gale at birth.

Art is always an exchange, like love, whose giving and taking can be a complex and wounding matter, according to Michelangelo. Ali Smith, Artful

Maybe he would drain Kit's blood in one swift act rather than torture him for days

If might have beens were kings and queens, then we'd have kingdoms all.

all that New Age stuff reckons a shower cleanses your aura.

But his desire to do the right thing

Years ago, I had a conversation with an actor who maintained, 'Once you can fake sincerity, you can achieve anything.' Even when I had no respect for the people I was dealing with, it was important to behave as if I did.

That'd be me, ma'am.' Tony winced. She hated that form of address and despised officers like DSI Henderson who cleaved to it as a marker of respect. 'It's old-fashioned misogyny

Brutal crimes didn't spring from nowhere; their seeds lay in the wider crimes of the community they impinged on.

That was one of the reasons she'd liked working for Carol Jordan. The boss cared about her results, not the minutiae of how she got them, provided that nothing Stacey did was going to come back and bite them in the arse at a later stage.

You've got four organs of perception and observation – two eyes and two ears – and one for interrogation. You usually learn least by using your mouth.

Kevin tried not to look at the tautness of her blouse over her breasts. He'd spent years schooling himself out of sexist responses, but it was hard when women's bodies were so present, so attractive, so tempting.

Thank you, ma'am.' Carol ended the call and

proportion than she