To all those who lead monotonous lives in the hope that they may experience at second hand the delights and dangers of adventure. [author's dedication]

I don't know. I don't know at all. And that's what's frightening the life out of me. To have no idea.

If I were at any time to set out on a career of deceit, it would be of Miss Marple that I should be afraid.

In old days the public didn't really mind much about accuracy, but nowadays readers take it upon themselves to write to authors on every possible occasion, pointing out flaws.

I always think loyalty's such a tiresome virtue.

Use that fluff of yours you call a brain.

That was what, ultimately, war did to you. It was not the physical dangers--the mines at sea, the bombs from the air, the crisp ping of a rifle bullet as you drove over a desert track. No, it was the spiritual danger of learning how much easier life was if you ceased to think.