Abeer > Abeer's Quotes

“You think it’s simple, because the death is the stone, and you just have to follow the ripples back to where it started. But then you have two deaths, two stones, two places where the ripples radiate from. The more people you add, the more people you talk to, the more complicated it gets. You’re basically throwing a fistful of gravel into the pond and trying to make sense of it.”
― Alex Smith, Unholy Saints

“You have to destroy a little piece of yourself in order to save everyone else, Savage had once told him. He wasn’t sure how much he had left to give.”
― Alex Smith, Unholy Saints

“Somebody beaten? Probably the Heiligs. Somebody dead? You tell a lie that big, it swallows you. You have to live inside it for the rest of your life.”
― Alex Smith, Unholy Saints

“It’s always important not to easily accept what you’re told, or sometimes what appears to be before your eyes. Magicians misdirect you into thinking something is real when it isn’t.”
― J.R. Ellis, The Brewery Murders

“Well, in those days, and I think Steph was probably the same – I used to believe that criminals were evil people. “Catch and lock ’em up” was my attitude. But you’ve taught us to think differently: that people who do bad things are mostly damaged themselves and maybe they were trapped in circumstances where another person might have behaved in the same way. Something pushed them over the edge. You know what I mean, sir?”
― J.R. Ellis, The Brewery Murders

“Then I always reflect. It could have been different; why wasn’t it? What evil combination of factors came together and caused this to happen?’ ‘I suppose in the end that’s one of the mysteries of life, isn’t it, sir?”
― J.R. Ellis, The Brewery Murders

“No, my friend Hastings," he would say; "we leave that to Giraud and his friends. Hercule Poirot's methods are his own. Order and method, and 'the little gray cells.' Sitting at ease in our own arm-chairs we see the things that these others overlook, and we do not jump to the conclusion like the worthy Japp.”
― Agatha Christie, The Big Four

“You think it’s okay to leave them?” he asked as they crossed the hall. “What if they try and microwave a saucepan or something?” “Or blow up the fridge,” added Billie. “Or worse,” said Kett. “Put peanut butter on my toast.” “The horror,” said Billie with a laugh.”
― Alex Smith, Truly Madly Deadly

“If you kill your wife, you don’t concoct a tall tale about somebody locking you in a van and making you fight to the death. You do it discretely, you hide the body, you claim innocence.”
― Alex Smith, Truly Madly Deadly

“Thanks for being a friend, Robbie,” he said as he started the engine. “I’m going home to drown my sorrows. I’m destined to be alone forever.” “No you’re bloody not,” said Kett, diving into the passenger seat before Balls could drive off. The little man looked at him with an expression of pure hope. “You’re coming with me?” he said. “Because we’re friends?” “No,” said Kett. “I just need you to drive me back to the station.”
― Alex Smith, Truly Madly Deadly

“That’s the trouble with being you, though, isn’t it? Sooner or later, the job puts you on everyone’s radar.”
― Alex Smith, Truly Madly Deadly

“The other reason Duke didn’t have to be nervous was because he obviously loved being in the kitchen. The same enormous hands that dropped plates and cups and pretty much everything else he tried to hold were somehow perfectly suited to small knives and kitchen implements, and he would lose himself in the art of whatever he was preparing. He cared about what he made, and he cared about who he served it to. It was lovely.”
― Alex Smith, Truly Madly Deadly

“You’re not in any trouble, I promise you,” she said. “We know this wasn’t your fault. Come with me, please. Let’s get you inside, you and the baby.” “I can’t,” said Darcey. “I didn’t kill him. I didn’t touch him. He did it himself, and…” Her face warped again, drowning in emotion.”
― Alex Smith, Truly Madly Deadly

“He was good looking,” said Kett. “Striking. It’s a face that would draw attention.” “Like mine,” said Clare, with apparently no sense of irony. “I mean, your face does draw attention, sir,” said Kett. He lowered his voice to a whisper. “For all the wrong reasons.”
― Alex Smith, Truly Madly Deadly

“Of course I didn’t. Why do we settle? Why do we think we’re not worth something more, eh? One life we get here, one chance at happiness, and how many of us spend it with somebody we don’t love? Somebody we don’t even like? It’s madness. Is he dead?”
― Alex Smith, Truly Madly Deadly

“Where are your plates, Frank?” “Plates?” he said. “In the kitchen. What’s that got to do with anything?” “Number plates, for the car.” “On the fucking car!” he said. “Hey, what’s he doing?”
― Alex Smith, Truly Madly Deadly

“Where are your plates, Frank?” “Plates?” he said. “In the kitchen. What’s that got to do with anything?” “Number plates, for the car.” “On the fucking car!” he said.”
― Alex Smith, Truly Madly Deadly

“Well bloody go then, Zipper,” said Clare. “What are you arsing around here for?” “You…” Kett shook his head, realising it was pointless.”
― Alex Smith, Truly Madly Deadly

“He’s evil. You have no idea. You say Willy was burned?” “After he’d stabbed himself, yeah,” said Kett. “I’ve seen Chuckles do that to a man before,” said Luke. “Out at sea. Tied him to a boat and set fire to it, watched him burn to death, watched him scream until his throat…”
― Alex Smith, Truly Madly Deadly

“It was almost seven, and he thought about Billie and the kids, about his own family waiting for him to come home. How many times had his late nights led to an argument with his wife? How many times had she told him, in the heat of the moment, that there wasn’t room for her and the girls in his head alongside the madness of the job?”
― Alex Smith, Truly Madly Deadly

“It was terrifying because she knew how fragile these things were, how prone they were to fracturing, or dissolving, or burning up. Love was so hard to build, but so easy to destroy, a fact that the Jack Valentine case had made clearer than ever—she could still see Darcey tumbling over the edge of the roof in search of a quick death rather than be without Will. She could still see the mangled, scorched forms of Gregg and Alan as they’d fought to the death, and Grant Dankworth’s smug smile as he talked about all the times he’d cheated on his wife. Wasn’t it easier to never fall in love at all?”
― Alex Smith, Truly Madly Deadly

“Why do we fool ourselves that we love somebody when we can barely even stand to be in the same room as them? When we argue and fight and talk shit about each other. No, that’s not love. How can it be? But I didn’t see it until I met him. He showed me true love. He showed me what it means, what it can do. You’ve never…”
― Alex Smith, Truly Madly Deadly

“God, you’ve never known love like this, you’ve never felt it. It’s… There are no words. But it makes you see the lies in other people, makes you see how weak they are, how wrong they are to call what they have love.”
― Alex Smith, Truly Madly Deadly

“And now she’d never see him again, never hear his voice, his goofy laugh, never feel his strong arms around her. She’d never be safe again, she’d never be loved again. The pain of it was worse than anything she’d ever felt.”
― Alex Smith, Truly Madly Deadly

“Oh, no, I get it,” she said. “I’ve seen it a million times. Two people whose relationship is so empty they have to find ways of keeping themselves together. It’s not usually murder.”
― Alex Smith, Truly Madly Deadly

“Right, back to HQ,” said Porter. “I have a meeting with God.” “God?” said Kett. “Yeah, God. Clare’s nickname for himself, remember? Although I think Satan’s probably a better one.”
― Alex Smith, Truly Madly Deadly