I knew one thing: as soon as anyone said you didn't need a gun, you'd better take one along that worked.

The perfect detective story cannot be written. The type of mind which can evolve the perfect problem is not the type of mind that can produce the artistic job of writing.

The girl gave him a look which ought to have stuck at least four inches out of his back.

Love interest nearly always weakens a mystery because it introduces a type of suspense that is antagonistic to the detective's struggle to solve a problem.

She bent over me again. Blood began to move around in me, like a prospective tenant looking over a house.

An artist cannot deny art, nor would he want to. A lover cannot deny love.

It is a language which is being molded by writers to do delicate things and yet be in the grasp of superficially educated people.