Kerry Greenwood Quotes & Sayings
Enjoy the top 100 famous quotes, sayings and quotations by Kerry Greenwood.
Famous Quotes By Kerry Greenwood
I hate clocks. They tick. Other things make noises in their time and need, but clocks mechanically beat the seconds to death. — Kerry Greenwood
He could pass off the inferior bottles on tables seven and four. Table seven knew nothing of wine, sending back a bottle of Riesling as "corked" because it had bits of cork in it, the imbeciles. Table four had gulped down a very special old pale brandy as though it was common wood alcohol, which was probably what they had been drinking because they had said that his brandy lacked bite. They deserved inferior burgundy. The bottles that had been stored too close to the stove might have enough bite by now for table four. A wine waiter's revenge may be long in coming, but it arrives in the end. — Kerry Greenwood
Her face was white, her eyes blazed like emeralds, and no one who saw her had any intention of saying anything but 'Immediately' to anything she ordered. — Kerry Greenwood
Tinker wrote neatly, though his spelling was not good, Ruth's recipes would never fail for confusion between 'add sugar' and 'seethe', but Jane's writing looked like an intoxicated inky spider had staggered across the page on the way to the bar for another drink. Which it really didn't need. — Kerry Greenwood
A publisher saw one of my historical novels and thought I would write an admirable detective story, so she offered me a two-book contract, and I grabbed it. — Kerry Greenwood
I always like cases when the victim's been practically begging to be killed. It means I don't have to be sorry for him. — Kerry Greenwood
Lin reflected how much power mere money had. Lying in the purse it was just coins. Let loose from confinement, it was blankets against the cold, and candied chestnuts. It was an old lady clad in a new dress with hibiscus flowers on it. — Kerry Greenwood
Most detective story readers are an educated audience and know there are only a certain number of plots. The interest lies in what the writer does with them. — Kerry Greenwood
Bert was short and stout. Cec was tall and lanky. Between them, there was nothing that they could not reach. — Kerry Greenwood
I got out of difficult situations when many of my classmates didn't because I was smart, and I was lucky, and my parents were amazingly literate and helpful. — Kerry Greenwood
Lust was a reliable emotion, but greed was altogether simpler to satisfy and you got to keep your clothes on. — Kerry Greenwood
My work is very carefully researched. Sometimes I have to ditch an idea because I can't prove it. — Kerry Greenwood
I have a theory that kitchens, once they reach a certain level of complexity, attract new gadgets into their orbit, like planets. Only this can account for the fact that I own two melon ballers. — Kerry Greenwood
There are only so many stories in the world ... Duplication of plots is bound to happen because most writers have read very extensively in their genre and have become aware they are adding an extra layer to the meta-narrative, finding a new spin on the original. — Kerry Greenwood
Don't be silly, Phryne, I'm an - ' 'Invert?' said Phryne. 'Of course you are.' She said this as though he had just claimed to have blue eyes, as something utterly ordinary. 'And that means,' John persisted, 'that I am a sinner.' 'Rubbish,' said Phryne sharply. 'No one can help whom they love. I am positive that your God doesn't care a fig. — Kerry Greenwood
She was sensible of the fact that while there were two sets of masculine arms to fall into, and one of them her current pet, Phryne had fallen into Dot's. — Kerry Greenwood
I don't steal stories. If I'm a plagiarist, so is Hitchcock. And Tolkien. And Shakespeare. — Kerry Greenwood
Things accumulated in purses. Unless they were deliberately unloaded and all contents examined for utility occasionally, one could find oneself transporting around in one's daily life three lipstick cases with just a crumb of lipstick left, an old eyebrow pencil sharpener without a blade, pieces of defunct watch, odd earrings, handkerchiefs (three crumpled, one uncrumpled), two grubby powder puffs, bent hairpins, patterns of ribbon to be matched, a cigarette lighter without fuel (and two with fuel), a spark plug, some papers of Bex and a sprinkling of loose white aspirin, eleven train tickets (the return half of which had not been given up), four tram tickets, cinema and theatre stubs, seven pence three farthings in loose change and the mandatory throat lozenge stuck to the lining. At least, those had been the extra contents of Phyrne's bag the last time Dot had turned it out. — Kerry Greenwood
She restored herself with a cocktail and an excellent lobster mayonnaise. Phryne was devoted to lobster mayonnaise, with cucumbers. — Kerry Greenwood
I don't think the process of writing books is in any way sensible. It's not logical, and it's not reasonable. I do write very fast, and I just do it in a binge. Other people binge-drink; I binge-write. — Kerry Greenwood
A young man in one's hotel bedroom is capable of being explained, but a corpse is always a hindrance. — Kerry Greenwood
Never trust a man who bites the heads off chickens is probably a good sound rule of practice. — Kerry Greenwood
And is it any wonder that the poor woman broke out into fairies when she had been deprived of any fiction in her youth? — Kerry Greenwood
I think it is rather heroic to go into a war zone where everyone is trying to kill you, and you have no way of shooting back. — Kerry Greenwood
I've always been in love with Melbourne. When I was 12, I was taken into the city by my grandmother to go to the ballet for the first time. — Kerry Greenwood
Phryne opened her book and sipped her lemonade. Agatha Christie. What a plotter. Phryne wished briefly that the real world was so amenable to being solved. *** — Kerry Greenwood
I went to a basic school, which had children from all corners of the world, and met my best friend and had to learn Greek because she didn't speak English. — Kerry Greenwood
Phryne was feeling most displeased with a species to which, she reminded herself, she belonged. — Kerry Greenwood
One only has a few fragrant nights of spring. Store your memories for when you are old. You will enjoy them again under such a moon as this. — Kerry Greenwood
The first Goddess, Gaia, who was the earth, wide hipped, big bellied, the womb of the human race, the nurturing breast of all humans, the opulent and voracious beginning of all things female. — Kerry Greenwood
This was cheering. The real world was still there, it still contained puppies being puppies and cats being cats. — Kerry Greenwood
1/2 cup plain flour 1 cup caster sugar 3/4 cup desiccated coconut 4 eggs vanilla 125 g butter, melted 1/2 cup flaked almonds 1 cup milk Grease a deep pie dish and preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Put all the ingredients except half the almonds and the milk in a bowl and mix well, then add the milk slowly and beat until you get a cake batter. Pour it into the pie dish, top with the with rest of the almonds. Bake for about 35 minutes. It miraculously turns itself into a spongy sort of layered coconut cake, lovely with stewed fruit and cream. — Kerry Greenwood
Clothes were terribly important in the '20s. They really were an arbiter of who you were and how much money you had: an indicator of social status. — Kerry Greenwood
I didn't want to write a grown-up account of Gallipoli. I wanted to find out what would happen if I looked at Gallipoli through the eyes of an innocent. — Kerry Greenwood
Her Beretta was holstered in her garter worn high on her thigh, under the shapeless blue dress. She had donned shoes in which she could run. The high heels had done their work and could be presented to the poor, assuming that they wanted to court a broken ankle along with their other problems. Along her forearm, covered by the loose sleeve, her throwing knife was strapped. Phryne, as a helpless victim, was a complete failure. — Kerry Greenwood
Even the reeking dark in the lion's cage seemed precious and infinitely preferable to whatever lay beyond. She would go out like the flame of a candle. Where does the candle flame go when the candle is blown out?
She laid her painted face against the iron bars and bared her teeth at death. — Kerry Greenwood
Amazement could go no further. If Phryne had ridden in on a unicorn he would merely have remarked on its elegant hocks and golden horn and suggested that she enter it weight for age at Felmington. Well, no, not a unicorn. Not Phryne. A dragon, perhaps. He was sure that she could tame a dragon. — Kerry Greenwood
I decided that if I want to write about a female hero in the 1920s, I'm going to have to give her all the advantages I can because she has serious disadvantages in being a woman. I wasn't going to have her cowed or overawed by class, so she had to be titled. — Kerry Greenwood
She wondered, briefly, if she was beautiful, decided she was and blew a kiss to her reflection — Kerry Greenwood
Come to the jacaranda tree at seven o'clock and you will hear something to your advantage. Destroy this note.'
No signature, no clue to the identity. Just what sort of heroine do you think I am? Phryne asked the air. Only a Gothic novel protagonist would receive that and say, 'Goodness, let me just slip into a low-cut white nightie and put on the highest heeled shoes I can find,' and, pausing only to burn the note, slip out of the hotel by a back exit and go forth to meet her doom in the den of the monster - to be rescued in the nick of time by the strong-jawed hero (he of the Byronic profile and the muscles rippling beneath the torn shirt). 'Oh, my dear,' Phryne spoke aloud as if to the letter-writer. 'You don't know a lot about me, do you? — Kerry Greenwood
The Albion was a spacious pub, built in the days when a public house with any pretensions to gentility had to have fourteen foot ceilings, brass taps and a polished wooden bar you skate down ... Bert, in his reflective moments, considered that if heaven didn't have a well-appointed pub where a man could sit down over a beer for a yarn with the other angels, then he didn't want to go there. — Kerry Greenwood
I used to tell my three younger siblings stories because that was my household chore, and I told long stories in installments because it was easier and more fun than making up a new story every night. I loved it. — Kerry Greenwood
I remind my American readers that biscuits in England and Australia are crispy flat things such as you call cookies, and the soft doughy things you call biscuits are what we call scones. And they say we speak the same language ... — Kerry Greenwood
Had she been at all used to blushing, she would have blushed, but she wasn't, so she didn't. — Kerry Greenwood
You've been making a regular habit of flinging yourself in front of bullets," she remarked amiably. "It's really not a good custom. Curb this tendency to self-immolation. — Kerry Greenwood
One can dare a lot if one is Emeritus, — Kerry Greenwood
He looked like a kobold who had just been told that he was mythical. — Kerry Greenwood
You need a crime, a detective, and the solution. — Kerry Greenwood
I'm a duty solicitor, so I can't fix someone's life; all I can do is fix the problem I've got in front of my eyes. — Kerry Greenwood
The Colonel was far too firmly married and full of military honours to be a threat to Phryne's virtue, or what remained of it, so she agreed. — Kerry Greenwood
Good morning, Meroe,' I said, dusting uselessly at my tracksuit pants. 'Might I interest you in today's special, pre-floured kitten? — Kerry Greenwood
One invited artists to social events, but only for the pleasure of their company. To invite singers or dancers to perform for their supper was inexpressively vulgar, and deserved a prompt and stinging rebuke. — Kerry Greenwood
And they need not cause you grief. As my Highland grandmother said - and she had the Sight - "Tis not the dead ye have to be concerned about! Beware of the Living!" And she was a wise woman. The dead are beyond your help or mine, poor things. But the living need us. Thirty souls at the least, Phryne, are still on that island to praise God who might now be angels - or devils. — Kerry Greenwood
Piracy is a lot of fun; you should try it. — Kerry Greenwood
If she's a flapper," mused the sergeant, wiping Passionate Rouge lipstick off his blameless mouth, "then I'm all for 'em, and I don't care what Mum says. — Kerry Greenwood
Phryne was getting out of the car. Dot closed her eyes. Miss Fisher was about to happen to someone again. — Kerry Greenwood
Miss Phryne Fisher. Investigations. 221B, The Esplanade, St Kilda,' read Bunji. 'You becoming a private Dick, eh? What larks! And what luck about the address.' 'It wasn't luck, I just added a B to 221. I bought the house for the number. You must drop in and see me, Bunji. Now come upstairs and we'll find you a gown. — Kerry Greenwood
You know how I feel about pretty boys - there aren't enough of them in the world as it is - we can't have people wantonly removing them. — Kerry Greenwood
All this display, while the working classes were pinched beyond bearing; it was not wise, or tasteful: it smacked of ostentatious wealth. The Europe from which Phryne had lately come was impoverished, even the nobility; and was keeping its head down, still shocked by the Russian revolution. It had become fashionable to make no display; understatement had become most stylish. — Kerry Greenwood
Sometimes it's hard to start, but once it gets going, once you reach the tipping point - usually between chapter seven and nine - then it's like hanging onto a large snowball as it hurtles downhill. — Kerry Greenwood
It's always good business practice to eliminate any potential avengers. — Kerry Greenwood
Ice cream was reliable. Young men were not. — Kerry Greenwood
I remember talking to John Mortimer, and he said he was relying on Rumpole to keep him in his old age; well, I'm doing the same with Phryne - she's my mainstay. — Kerry Greenwood
I believe in absolutely nothing except yeast and the inevitability of politicians. — Kerry Greenwood
My own view is that everyone works too hard and too long and they ought to get out more. There isn't time in their improverished lives to do anything creative, or even to just sit and stare, one of my favourite occupations. And how the wired-in young - never without their music, never out of touch because of mobile phones, constantly sharing everything, even pictures - are going to cope if they ever encounter solitude and silence is another thing. — Kerry Greenwood
Miss? Miss Phryne? Are you all right?' 'Come in, Dot. I'm fine. Some son of unmarried parents just tried to kidnap me.' 'What did you do with the body, Miss? — Kerry Greenwood
It was always easier to genuinely praise than to try and find something nice to say about rubbish. — Kerry Greenwood
women as a sex and particularly — Kerry Greenwood
We learn love from the people who love us. — Kerry Greenwood
Padre always told me me language was sulphurous. — Kerry Greenwood
No, really," said Jack, blushing to show that he wasn't embarrassed at all. "Do — Kerry Greenwood
It took determination to be really strange. That, or absinthe before breakfast every day. — Kerry Greenwood
First, a bath. I'm feeling soiled. Too much contact with cold reality, I think. — Kerry Greenwood
The stories from World War I are worse than anything I have ever read. — Kerry Greenwood
I looked over Jordan, and what did I see? Coming for to carry me home A band of Angels coming after me Coming for to carry me home. — Kerry Greenwood
I fell in love with words in all languages, and I read everything I could find, particularly myths and legends and histories and archeology and any novels. — Kerry Greenwood
This is what 'forever' means, my dear. You don't walk into danger on your own. Not anymore. — Kerry Greenwood
I have been reading crime books ever since I was a child, but I had never tried to write one. — Kerry Greenwood
Both had suggestive bulges in their pockets which told of either huge genitalia or trousered pistols. — Kerry Greenwood
I don't like the idea of being killed by fools. I shall have to ensure that this does not happen. — Kerry Greenwood
There are good sailors. Well, some good sailors. In a way they are ideal as husbands. They drop in every six months for a wild celebration, then they drop out again before one gets bored with their company or annoyed with by their habits. — Kerry Greenwood
If I ever saw my muse she would be an old woman with a tight bun and spectacles poking me in the middle of the back and growling, Wake up and write the book! — Kerry Greenwood
The world is too harsh a place to contemplate directly, without a cushion of fancy and belief. — Kerry Greenwood
Phryne read a detective story, frequently going back because she suddenly found herself reading a conversation between two characters she had not met before - — Kerry Greenwood
Now we will all die. What a pity. I haven't done half the wicked things I wanted to do, and the ones I have done I haven't done anything like enough. — Kerry Greenwood
The young will no longer be advised by the old," she said to the hall porter.
"That is because we advised them to die," said the hall porter. — Kerry Greenwood
To Hell with all racialists,' she said aloud. 'And to Hell with eugenics, degenerate heredity, miscegenation and frauds who pile up skulls like a conqueror as well. May they choke on their bones.' A passing gentleman boggled at her and crossed to the other side of La Trobe Street. 'There is no place for them in the Kingdom of Heaven,' she added, rolling the phrase over her tongue and filing it for future reference. — Kerry Greenwood
I was determined to become a criminal lawyer and help look after the poor. — Kerry Greenwood
The difficulty, my asclepid, is not to govern people, but to make them govern themselves, — Kerry Greenwood
When I first started writing the books in the 1980s, all of the female detectives were flawed in some way because they were based on noir characters. — Kerry Greenwood
No cook can ignore the opinion of a man who asks for three helpings. One is politeness, two is hunger, but three is a true and cherished compliment. — Kerry Greenwood