There is no sound so terrible as a man's sorrow for his own death.

Ghosts don't haunt us. That's not how it works. They're present among us because we won't let go of them.

any mystery writer is both magician and moralist ... two species of artist in short supply.

The memory is like orbiting twin stars, one visible, one dark, the trajectory of what's evident forever affected by the gravity of what's concealed.

Emotion doesn't travel in a straight line. Like water, our feelings trickle down through cracks and crevices, seeking out the little pockets of neediness and neglect, the hairline fractures in our character usually hidden from public view.

When all else fails, cleaning house is the perfect antidote to most of life's ills.

Thinking is hard work, which is why you don't see many people doing it.