Hidden Depths Quotes

“And once the others started shouting too, she stopped speaking and just watched. Pleased, as if it was what she had wanted all the time. That hate spreading like a wild fire on the hill.’ A pause. ‘It was as if she was drunk on the power.”
― Ann Cleeves, Hidden Depths

“Vera watched him walk to his car, the champagne in one hand, the flowers in the other. Thought that if she'd been married to someone like Joe Ashworth, she'd be so bored she'd commit murder herself.”
― Ann Cleeves, Hidden Depths

“Don’t be daft, lad. I’ve worked with more loonies than you’ve had hot dinners. And I don’t just mean the offenders.”
― Ann Cleeves, Hidden Depths

“You never answered back?”
― Ann Cleeves, Hidden Depths

“Mary watched her fondly. ‘My Clive”
― Ann Cleeves, Hidden Depths

“I trust them. I know that if they’ve done something as appalling as commit murder, they must have a good reason.”
― Ann Cleeves, Hidden Depths

“She’d thought it had all been eaten and finding a portion gave her a brief moment of joy, an uncomplicated pleasure of the kind you rarely experienced as an adult.”
― Ann Cleeves, Hidden Depths

“When Vera arrived home that evening, there was a buzzard sailing over her house. The rounded wings were tilted to catch the thermals and the last of the sun caught it, so it shone like polished wood, carved in a totem.”
― Ann Cleeves, Hidden Depths

“using the boys?’ She was thinking something menial; maybe”
― Ann Cleeves, Hidden Depths

“You don't think that he provoked the suicide, that he was having an affair, for example?'

'Of course not!' The woman seemed horrified. 'Samuel's a librarian!' As if his profession made the idea impossible.”
― Ann Cleeves, Hidden Depths

“I take him for granted too, she thought. Think of him as family, expect more of him than I should.”
― Ann Cleeves, Hidden Depths

“She saw the delight and excitement Samuel gave her as a wage, her dues for living such a boring and unadventurous married life, for keeping the Calvert show on the road. She knew it wasn’t the way women usually looked at things, but couldn’t see why they couldn’t all maintain a civilized friendship.”
― Ann Cleeves, Hidden Depths

“But no one she felt any obligation to, no one she had to put herself out for. She thought it could be a two-edged sword, friendship. You’d end up giving more than you got.”
― Ann Cleeves, Hidden Depths

“vindaloo”
― Ann Cleeves, Hidden Depths

“collieries,”
― Ann Cleeves, Hidden Depths

“She was glad of her size, blocking the doorway. He seemed very slight.”
― Ann Cleeves, Hidden Depths

“He gave a sudden broad grin. ‘Her footprints’ll be distinctive enough,’ he said. ‘Those sandals she wears. The size of elephants’ feet. The CSI won’t confuse them.’ ‘They won’t find any footprints!’ She didn’t mean to be defiant, but realized that was how she sounded and she couldn’t stop. ‘That’s what I was doing when I found the ring. I was cleaning. I brushed and mopped all the floors, scrubbed the work surfaces. It’s not worth bringing in your experts.”
― Ann Cleeves, Hidden Depths

“She watched the post-mortem through the glass screen, not because she was squeamish but because she was conscious of her size and was always worried that she was in the way. There were so many people gathered around the stainless-steel table – the technicians, the photographer, Billy Wainwright.”
― Ann Cleeves, Hidden Depths

“She inched her way across the grass, aware of the weight she carried, the space she took up. As if, inside the hut, he’d sense the vibration of her feet on the ground, the displacement of the air.”
― Ann Cleeves, Hidden Depths

“It’s me, pet. Vera Stanhope.’ The detective of the night before. He thought he’d answered all her questions and her presence threw him. At one time he’d have been able to take this in his stride. He’d had the confidence to talk himself into any event, out of any bother. Now, it wasn’t so easy. But he couldn’t leave her there, waiting. ‘Come on up.’ Keeping the voice light, to show he had nothing to hide. He checked his appearance in the long mirror. Habit. Reassurance. Like spending a fortune on the right haircut, a decent pair of shoes. Then he opened the door of the flat and stood there, waiting for her to appear. He couldn’t hear the lift and was wondering if she’d been called away on more urgent business, when she appeared at the top of the stairs, wheezing, heaving for breath. ‘I don’t like lifts.’ The words came out in quick accusing pants, as if she was blaming him for living there. ‘I’m never quite sure they’ll carry my weight.’ And he realized her appearance was something she was sensitive about. She’d have been bullied at school and the only way to deal with it would have been to get the jibe in first. Surprised that last night he’d been intimidated by her, he leaned back against the door and let her walk into the flat ahead of him.”
― Ann Cleeves, Hidden Depths

“She took a large-scale Ordnance Survey map from the shelf in her office and laid it across her desk. ‘This is where we need to park,’ she said, jabbing her fat finger onto the paper. ‘If he’s there, we don’t want to be so close to the house that he can hear the engine.”
― Ann Cleeves, Hidden Depths

“They were drinking champagne from narrow glasses. A fat woman with very short hair was making a speech. Julie felt as if she’d travelled to a new country, as if these were exotic creatures”
― Ann Cleeves, Hidden Depths

“Vera was sitting on the edge of a desk, as fat and round and impassive as a Buddha.”
― Ann Cleeves, Hidden Depths

“The fat woman detective leaned forward, not pushing Julie to continue, more showing her that she was content to wait, that she had all the time in the world. Julie sipped the tea. She didn’t tell the woman about the way Geoff had looked at Luke. Instead she moved the story on a year.”
― Ann Cleeves, Hidden Depths

“Julie paused trying to find the right word. The fat detective didn’t interrupt, just gave her the time to think. ‘… restful, peaceful. He’d lie awake all day, just watching the shadows on the ceiling.”
― Ann Cleeves, Hidden Depths

“Julie couldn’t stop talking. She knew she was making a tit of herself, but the words spilled out, and the fat woman wedged in the Delcor armchair that Sal had got from the sales last year just sat there and listened. Not taking notes, not asking questions. Just listening.”
― Ann Cleeves, Hidden Depths

“My memory’s not so good. I blame the ECT but it’s probably just age.”
― Ann Cleeves, Hidden Depths