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I think this blog should be called the ‘unblog’ because, so far, I have no interest in writing about the process of writing, reading or solving mysteries. No doubt that will change in the future but for now I am content to pass on pearls of wisdom for other, worthy, writers.
“Nobody reads a mystery to get to the middle. They read it to get to the end. If it’s a letdown, they won’t buy anymore. The first page sells that book. The last page sells your next book.”
– Mickey Spillane
“Every murder turns on a bright hot light, and a lot of people… have to walk out of the shadows.”
“The toilets at a local police station have been stolen. Police say they have nothing to go on.” – Ronnie Barker
A little dated but still an interesting bit of trivia
“I’m terribly proud that they quoted Rumpole twice during the O.J. Simpson trial. One of the defense lawyers told Judge Ito he thought they were getting ‘a case of premature adjudication,’ which is something Rumpole always says. Then one of the prosecution lawyers said, ‘As Rumpole would say, it all comes down to the blood.’” John Mortimer
Thanks to Adam Cuerden who sent in the following correction to a ‘quote’ attributed to Benjamin Franklin. Here’s the scoop:
Princess Zara:
A complicated gentleman allow to present,
Of all the arts and faculties the terse embodiment,
He’s a great arithmetician who can demonstrate with ease
That two and two are three or five or anything you please;
An eminent Logician who can make it clear to you
That black is white–when looked at from the proper point of view;
A marvelous Philologist who’ll undertake to show
That “yes” is but another and a neater form of “no.”
Sir Bailey:
Yes–yes–yes–
“Yes” is but another and a neater form of “no.”
All preconceived ideas on any subject I can scout,
And demonstrate beyond all possibility of doubt,
That whether you’re an honest man or whether you’re a thief
Depends on whose solicitor has given me my brief.