60 Quotes About Detective

For many people, one of the best parts of watching a suspenseful movie or TV show is when the detective comes along and solves the crime. Featuring great detective skills and a sharp eye for detail, they get to the bottom of things quickly and get to the truth. While you’re not likely to be a real-life detective anytime soon, you can still see your own sleuthing skills in action with these detective quotes .

The truth must be quite plain, if one could just...
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The truth must be quite plain, if one could just clear away the litter. Agatha Christie
Rene Caron takes my breath away!
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Rene Caron takes my breath away! Teresa Lynn
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Dana was what Steve called a "silent partner" in the Brixton Brothers Detective Agency. Being a silent partner meant that Dana didn't carry a business card, that his name didn't appear on the company letterhead, and he wanted nothing to do with the Brixton Brothers Detective Agency. Mac Barnett
Yes, ' Spade growled. 'And when you're slapped you'll take...
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Yes, ' Spade growled. 'And when you're slapped you'll take it and like it.' He released Cairo's wrist and with a thick open hand struck the side of his face three times savagely. Dashiell Hammett
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Wolfe still paid no attention to me. As a matter of fact, I didn't expect him to, since he was busy taking exercise. He had recently got the impression he weighed too much- which was about the same as if the Atlantic Ocean had decided it was too wet... Rex Stout
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My mother’s father, Grandfather Thieme, the son of a railroad engineer, looked quite dapper as a young man. Prior to 1933 the Hamburg Police Department consisted of 21 units, with 2, 100 men. My grandfather was a Polizist with the Sicherheitspolizei or uniformed policeman with the department. Later, with an expansion of the Hamburg Police Department to 5, 500 men and the formation of an investigative branch, he was promoted to the esteemed position of a Kriminalbeamte inspector. He rose to the rank of Chief of Detectives, and had a reputation of being tough, and not someone you could mess with. Having a baldhead and the general appearance of Telly Savalas, the late Hollywood movie actor, I don’t think anyone did. An action story and part of my grandfather’s legacy was when he chased a felon across the rooftops of prewar Hamburg, firing his Dienstpistole, service revolver, as he made his way from one steep inclined slate roof to the next. Of course, Grandpa got his man! Even with this factual tidbit, there isn’t all that much I know about him, other than that, at the then ripe old age of sixty-four, he peacefully died in his chair while reading the evening newspaper. Captain Hank Bracker
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Thanks to Dashiell Hammett. "He was thin, walked with a stick, and was the only private dick I knew who used the pockets of his sport coat. Maybe that means something, maybe not." Ramone Ramone, 2013 Thomas Dekooning
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I'm very glad you asked me that, Mrs Rawlinson. The term `holistic' refers to my conviction that what we are concerned with here is the fundamental interconnectedness of all things. I do not concern myself with such petty things as fingerprint powder, telltale pieces of pocket fluff and inane footprints. I see the solution to each problem as being detectable in the pattern and web of the whole. The connections between causes and effects are often much more subtle and complex than we with our rough and ready understanding of the physical world might naturally suppose, Mrs Rawlinson."Let me give you an example. If you go to an acupuncturist with toothache he sticks a needle instead into your thigh. Do you know why he does that, Mrs Rawlinson?No, neither do I, Mrs Rawlinson, but we intend to find out. A pleasure talking to you, Mrs Rawlinson. Goodbye. Douglas Adams
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It often seems to me that's all detective work is, wiping out your false starts and beginning again."" Yes, it is very true, that. And it is just what some people will not do. They conceive a certain theory, and everything has to fit into that theory. If one little fact will not fit it, they throw it aside. But it is always the facts that will not fit in that are significant. Agatha Christie
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Every mystery novel I ever read, the great detective was such an arrogant fuck you could replace 70% of his dialogue with 'Are you stupid?' and the conversation would still make sense. NisiOisiN
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Time is a terrible thing because it can erase both joys and pains. Gosho Aoyama
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Norm was lean, his short, straight black hair parted on the side, his mustache trimmed like he’d never heard of Adolf Hitler. Jane Sunday
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Frankly, I wish I could make my heart quit doing an extra thump when Wolfe says satisfactory, Archie. It's childish. Rex Stout
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It is not for me to suspect but to detect. Anna Katharine Green
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A black telephonereceiver was stuffed in the small space between his ear and hisshoulder; he motioned for them to sit in the stiff wooden armchairs infront of his desk. Moments later he hung up the phone, the baseringing lightly from the impact.“ So you’re still in a mess, aren’t you?” he said. M.L. Terese
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Covert operations relied on the unguarded slip, the unconscious choosing of one word over another. Sara Sheridan
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Simon's brain tried to comprehend the situation. 'Was an international supermodel really holding Doc Gutson, leader of the infamous Bloodworth Gang, captive? Clare Havens
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Ah ha! " the Doc screeched suddenly, wheeling around. "The salicylic acid! Maybe it SHOULD have been heated first! Clare Havens
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Just making the cement now, only takes five minutes."" I did it in four once, " Pauly whispered boastfully to Johnny, "but if I'm honest, I was never completely happy that it set properly."" Who was it for?"" Big Joe the Hammer.""Oh, yeah, " Johnny nodded. "Didn't I hear he was spotted in Vegas a few weeks back?" Pauly nodded morosely." Yeah, like I said, I didn't think it had set properly. Clare Havens
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Jean smirked, and delicately swirled the mic in his hands, careful not to make a sound. “Oui. C’est normal. C'est pas spécial. I will give you something worthy of Holmes.” Jean set down the mic and proceeded toward the couple. As he approached them, he fiddled with his mustache for a moment, and then pulled it sharply. He winced at the sensation. “I have it, ” he declared confidently. “You sir, are a thief. Zechariah Barrett
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About Tommy, you went through your whole life craving these little pockets of time and missing them for more time than you had them. Lily Gardner
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There were men in their fifties, men who take a stab at fitness, men who try. They may not look young, but they still look viable. Lammers wasn't one of those. Lammers was one of those crack-in-the-ass guys ten months pregnant with a beer baby. Lily Gardner
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That was the thing about luck, its laws were those of scarcity. Lily Gardner
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The Land of Civilian was a dry bitter place where you sat in your car staring at drawn curtains and closed doors for hours on end, and where everything was a big, freaking secret. Lily Gardner
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In the nineteenth century, The Romantics viewed Nature as benign, a glowing reflection of God's grace. Now we know better. Nature is brutal and, if it is feminine, she's not the kind of woman you can trust. Human beings may be her finest achievement yet, but when you get right down to brass tacks, we're meat. AIDS and organisms like streptococcus don't give a crap that we subdued the earth or produced a Shakespeare.. Rick Yancey
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Terrible accident; body parts was everywhere–-fingers, toes, wings, beaks. Ambulance people tried to scoop him all up, but apparently it ain’t so easy as you might think–telling a chicken from a Chinaman, I mean. Anyways, they got his weight off his driver’s license, picked up a hundred and thirty pounds of pieces and buried ‘em. Now his wife come every year 'bout this time to pay her respects. We don't serve chicken while she's here. Hope you ain't got a taste for it. R.J. Leahy
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That the loss of a man, even if he had been the love of her life, was not the end of a woman's existence. Sherry Thomas
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Why did so many teenagers fall for Stanley Horowitz’s tricks?”“ These were impressionable teenagers, ” Nick explained. “Many of them were devoted fans of romantic Vampyre stories. They over-romanticized what it means to be a Vampyre, and that gave Stanley a way to manipulate th Abramelin Keldor
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Nick laughed and pet the Wangdoodle on the head. “Esperto, you silly boy, ” he said to the Wangdoodle. “Usually, Esperto only transforms when I’m in danger, ” Nick said to Elphaba. “But whenever he’s around Dymons, he loves to play along. Their transformations are to Esperto what a ball of yarn is to a kitten.” Esperto gave out a strange squeaking growl, which Elphaba figured was the Wangdoodle version of a . Abramelin Keldor
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So, what if your entire body was, oh I don’t know, dropped into molten met Abramelin Keldor
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The two of them carefully stepped around the crime scene, picking up Nick’s arms, legs and organs, and brought them back to his head. They placed his extremities into position, and then pieced in the gorier bits, assembling a gruesome jigsaw puzzle. In a few moments, most of Nick’s body was in place. The healing process took about twenty minutes. Elphaba and John stood spellbound as they watched a bloody collection of body parts reintegrate into a human form. As Nick’s sinews, nerves, and muscle knit back into place, the gaping wound in Esperto’s body also closed, completing a few minutes before Nick’s healing. The panther form quickly shrank back to housecat just as Nick sat up. Esperto jumped in his lap and licked the remnants of blood off his . Abramelin Keldor
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Charlie slowly crumpled to the floor, Allison soon joining him. “Dinner is served! ” Stanley trumpeted, as he reached into the steaming mass of offal and fished around for the teens’ livers. “Aha! ” he crowed, as he lifted one liver in each hand over his Abramelin Keldor
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Immortal.” Melanie paused and stared into space for a moment, her mouth moving with nothing coming out. “That is way cool, ” she said finally. “That probably means you’re old. How old are you?”“ Hmm, let’s see. I never remember the answer to that question.” Nick calculated for a moment. “819 years o Abramelin Keldor
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Elphaba gave him a sidelong glance. “I think you enjoy going to school, Nick. Are you sure canoodling with teenage girls isn’t your ulterior motive?”“ Perish the thought, Elphaba, perish the thought. I’m too old for that.” Nick winked. “By about eight hundred years. Abramelin Keldor
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Good, evil, these are human concepts, ways people have for understanding what it means to be alive, ” Nick said. “Before people came along, this planet was teeming with life, fighting to survive, to live long enough to reproduce, completing the circle of li Abramelin Keldor
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Elphaba’s face darkened again. Then she asked, hesitantly, as if afraid of the answer, “So, how do you get the evil life force?”“ From innocent people, Elphaba, ” Nick spoke so quietly he almost whispered. “I must draw the life force from innocent people. The more innocent they are, the more evil the murder Abramelin Keldor
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The only way Magick ever has power is when its secrets are truly secret. Once too many people know how it works, then it doesn’t work anymore. Abramelin Keldor
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Make no mistake, Elphaba, Goddess Magick was potent in the old days. During the Dark Ages the Catholic Church had their hands full fighting it. Unfortunately, in large measure the Church won that war, relegating Wicca, Druidism and the rest to the fringes of society. With vastly weakened power.”“ Except yours, Nick.”“I’ve always been a special case, Elphaba, ” Nick explained. “Even though I began my career as an alchemist, I soon turned away from that practice and forged my own path. I uncovered my own secrets and kept them secret. That’s how I was able to maintain my power for so long. . Abramelin Keldor
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Nick wouldn’t dream of going on a case without his beloved cat. After all, they had been together for over three hundred years. Abramelin Keldor
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All that Anne Rice crap is true, I thought on my way out the door; New Orleans really does have a vampire problem. Besides me, of course. J.R. Rain
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I had been a happy normal wife and mother in Orange County until ten years ago, when I was attacked by an evil vampire... and turned into one myself. It's made my life since gross and scary and, let's face it, weird. J.R. Rain
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I put the carpetbag on a ledge, and then, hanging upside down by my razor-clawed feet, slept until sunset. A first for me, and actually quite comfortable. Lord help me. J.R. Rain
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Tell me, Mrs. Moon, will your need for sustenance trouble you on this excursion? How often do you need to feed?" I couldn't tell whether his interest was scientific, or whether he was afraid I might plunge my teeth into his throat at any moment. J.R. Rain
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Becoming a fae leader? Not on my bucket list. E.J. Stevens
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She walks into my life legs first, a long drink of water in the desert of my thirties. Her shoes are red; her eyes are green. She's an Italian flag in occupied territory, and I fall for her like Paris. She mixes my metaphors like a martini and serves up my heart tartare. They all do. Every time. They have to. It's that kind of story. Catherynne M. Valente
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I guess us folks in California are kind of straitlaced and old-fashioned." Hahaha, I thought on the way downstairs. I never thought I'd say those words with a straight face... J.R. Rain
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You'll be in good hands with the colonel, you'll see." The colonel? Okay, I was obviously stuck in a Gone With the Wind theme park. Or maybe a Kentucky Fried Chicken farm. Or I was simply hallucinating... J.R. Rain
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We don't know how our choices can change the course of our lives until they do. Unfortunately, sometimes it takes tragedy for us to realize it. Rachel Renee
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But there are three things in this world you can’t shrug off: death, taxes — and a girl who loves you. Cornell Woolrich
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This has been a covert preparation for an overt operation." - Rory in NEVER GO ALONE Denison Hatch
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Being a Berlin cop in 1942 was a little like putting down mousetraps in a cage full of tigers. Philip Kerr
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Ah ha! ' the Doc screeched suddenly, wheeling around. ''The salicylic acid! Maybe it SHOULD have been heated first! Clare Havens
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I stole a bit of a chopped vegetable and was about to put it in my mouth when Jae’s long fingers closed over my wrist. “What? You can’t eat this raw?”“ It’s bitter melon. You won’t like it.” He went into the fridge and came out with something that looked halfway familiar. “Here, leftover bao. There’s char siu inside.”“ The red pork stuff? Yeah, I like that. I thought it was Chinese.” “It is. We also eat hamburgers and spaghetti. . Rhys Ford
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He just waited until I stopped talking and said, 'Jesus, kid, you're almost a detective. All you need now is a gun, a gut, and three ex-wives. So what's your theory? John Green
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The instant Isabella Cortez left the safety of the FBI building, goose bumps skittered across her skin and her senses went on high alert. Elizabeth Heiter
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I actually do have a motto, ” said Heat. “It’s ‘Never forget who you work for.'" And as she voiced the words, Nikki felt a creeping unease. It wasn’t exactly shame, but it was close. For the first time it sounded hollow. Fake. Why? She examined herself, trying to see what was different. The stress, that was new. And when she looked at that, she recognized that the hardest part of her day lately was working to avoid confrontation with Captain Montrose. That’s when it came to her. In that moment, sitting nearly naked in Rook’s living room, playing some silly nineteenth-century parlor game, she came to an unexpected insight. In that moment Nikki woke up and saw with great clarity who she had become - and who she had stopped being. Without noticing it, Heat had begun seeing herself as working for her captain and had lost sight of her guiding principle, that she worked for the victim. Richard Castle
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She tried to focus on the element of riddle or at least puzzle contained in the letter and ignore the sense of doom that was sweeping through her like clouds rolling to the shore over open water.
 Sara Sheridan
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If there was one thing which Sloan had learned over the years it was that you should never underestimate the element of luck in detective work. Catherine Aird
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Persistence is often a detective's greatest ally. Lara Adrian