The Infinite Blacktop (Claire DeWitt Mysteries, #3)

by Sara Gran

“People work all their life to get recognized,” Linda said. “What they don’t realize is that once they get recognized, they’re not themselves anymore. Not in public. Not to anyone else. They’re someone else. And that’s what people recognize. That’s who everyone falls in love with. That’s who they want. People like Ann are constantly changing. But the world wants just that one incarnation of them, over and over again.”

“A mystery is like a termite: even if you don’t know it’s there, it creates holes in your foundation, leaving you off-kilter and unsupported, never understanding why your house is such a frightening and confusing place to be. “Sometimes the solution is to rebuild your house. Sometimes, it’s to set your house on fire.”

But age isn’t just time passing. It’s time breaking you—your will, your heart, your beliefs.

I’d learned a little and Christopher, with his lack of defenses and deficit of knowledge, was easy.

She said a mystery was not a bad piece of art for her to leave behind.

“The clue is not the thing that tells you who committed the crime,” he explained to the class. “The clue is the thing that tells you why YOU were called to solve this particular crime. The question is never: Who did it? There’s always one question, and one question only: Who are you, and why are you here?”