«As time's gone on, I've probably become a lot more like him [John Rebus]: I drink at his bar and I like to be one on one with my music late at night.»

«It's a strange feeling to see one's books come up at auction and also, to some extent, a sign of my miserable early failings as an author.»

«Music is a good shorthand way to delineate character,»

«It's a young man's book, all about the perils and pitfalls of growing up.»

«Music is a good shorthand way to delineate character. If you want to tell the reader a lot about a character in a small space, just tell them what their musical taste is. You'll get their age, their background, whether they're gregarious or a loner.»

«When a murder is satisfied, it isn't the beginning of the story; it's the middle. We shouldn't forget that fact because murder has ripples. You never go back to being the same. The people that investigate these crimes never go back to being the same as they were before they started the investigation. The people's whose lives have been affected, the victim's families, even the murderer themselves are profoundly changed. That's why murder is still the most interesting crime for us to write about, because it is the only crime where something unique is taken away from the world, something that can't be replaced.»

«The match hinged on the first try after the break,»

«Whether Rebus's 'skills' are ones his bosses would wish retained is a moot point, but it seems I have my 'get-in' clause should I need one.»

«By that time, Rebus will be 59 and, for a CID officer, he is getting fairly long in the tooth. They will have brought in the smoking ban by 2007, so he will definitely want to retire to somewhere in the sun for a drink and a smoke.»

«The match hinged on the first try after the break.»