Harbour Street Quotes

“We don't often notice the people who look after us, do we? Though we'd miss them if they weren't there”
― Ann Cleeves, Harbour Street

“Was it only possible truly to enjoy something if you knew there was a danger that it might be taken away?”
― Ann Cleeves, Harbour Street

“He was never very good at talking about feelings. He'd been on his own for so long that it was as if he'd had to learn a new language”
― Ann Cleeves, Harbour Street

“He was so restless and he had so much energy, but it was destructive. Like it wasn’t the sort of energy that got walls painted or the house cleaned. He just prowled like a lion in a cage.”
― Ann Cleeves, Harbour Street

“she’d never had a best friend, no one with whom she could share her dreams. The nearest she had was Joe Ashworth.”
― Ann Cleeves, Harbour Street

“We don’t often notice the people who look after us, do we? Though we’d miss them if they weren’t there.”
― Ann Cleeves, Harbour Street

“An inspector’s role was strategic. Except that she’d always been seduced by the detail. She told herself she’d be back at the station before lunchtime.”
― Ann Cleeves, Harbour Street

“last”
― Ann Cleeves, Harbour Street

“Information is power.”
― Ann Cleeves, Harbour Street

“But yes, he’s a psychopath too. Cleverer than Butt, and more plausible. No conscience and no shame.”
― Ann Cleeves, Harbour Street

“Just dump him, Vera wanted to say. There are worse things than being single. She decided that there were different forms of prostitution. Maybe Margaret’s form wasn’t the most degrading.”
― Ann Cleeves, Harbour Street

“Get them to tell you a story. It’s all about stories. It might be a pack of lies, of course. But that’ll tell you something useful too.”
― Ann Cleeves, Harbour Street

“coxswain”
― Ann Cleeves, Harbour Street

“taciturn”
― Ann Cleeves, Harbour Street

“Val Butt, large and ungainly, would have been just in her forties, already looking tired and middle-aged, and her son Rick in his mid-twenties.”
― Ann Cleeves, Harbour Street

“For such a heavy woman she walked quietly. She’d been a heavy child and Hector’s jeers had made her conscious of every footstep. For Christ’s sake, girl, do you want us both to end up in prison?”
― Ann Cleeves, Harbour Street

“A quiet interview room, just him and the fat woman. Plain painted walls. Nothing to jar the senses. Suddenly that seemed the most attractive thing in the world.”
― Ann Cleeves, Harbour Street

“There was something pleasant in thinking that he might find the fat detective there waiting for him; she’d be glad to see him. He pictured her smiling. She’d make him tea, and might even have a drop of Scotch to put into it.”
― Ann Cleeves, Harbour Street

“Vera put her hand on the woman’s fat slab of an arm. ‘Tell me.’ Tell me your story.”
― Ann Cleeves, Harbour Street

“And of course Malcolm had done as she’d wanted. Like he’d told that fat woman detective, he’d have swum naked three times round Coquet, if she’d asked him. The rest of the evening had been a blur.”
― Ann Cleeves, Harbour Street

“And of course Malcolm had done as she’d wanted. Like he’d told that fat woman detective, he’d have swum naked three times round Coquet, if she’d asked him.”
― Ann Cleeves, Harbour Street

“She looked through the hall window before opening the door and saw the fat detective and her sidekick standing outside. ‘Sorry to disturb you, pet. Do you mind if we come in?’ And by the time Vera Stanhope had finished the words she was inside the house, the younger man trailing after her. Kate wondered how that must make him feel, always in the fat woman’s shadow.”
― Ann Cleeves, Harbour Street

“You were in there,’ Peggy said sharply. ‘You and a fat woman. I saw you from the window.”
― Ann Cleeves, Harbour Street

“She could be as callous as hell, but occasionally she connected with a witness and, when that happened, she would move heaven and earth to help them. The objects of her pity were usually loners, clumsy, despised. And fat, Joe thought, grinning to himself despite the situation. Much like Vera herself.”
― Ann Cleeves, Harbour Street

“Joe wondered what that must be like. Sal thought he gave every spare minute to his work. Your soul belongs to the fat woman.”
― Ann Cleeves, Harbour Street

“Maybe when Fat Val was the landlady and he was young and fit and a bit of a firebrand.”
― Ann Cleeves, Harbour Street

“Val, the landlady.’ She pointed to the big woman.”
― Ann Cleeves, Harbour Street

“He pointed to the fat woman. ‘That’s Val Butt. She was the landlady. And that’s her son, Ricky. Local wheeler and dealer.”
― Ann Cleeves, Harbour Street

“Kate went into the kitchen to fetch her keys and, when she returned, Vera Stanhope had disappeared. It was hard to imagine that such a big woman could move so quickly or so lightly.”
― Ann Cleeves, Harbour Street

“A woman, big and blowsy in laddered tights and a short skirt, stumbled out of the pub. Vera thought she’d catch her death.”
― Ann Cleeves, Harbour Street