“Police work wouldn't be possible without coffee," Wallander said."No work would be possible without coffee."They pondered the importance of coffee in silence.”

“'What was that?' Wallander said.[Linda] 'Nothing.''That's funny. I could have sworn you were swearing.''I didn't say anything.''I have a strange daughter,' Wallander said to Lindman. 'She curses without even knowing it.'”

“This is what Sweden is - quiet people leaning over the newspapers and coffee cups, each one with his own thoughts and destiny.”

“It's impossible to talk to a madman wisely, Wallander thought helplessly.”

“Just as no significant work of art can be created without the element of irrationality that is in fact the artist's talent." p.179"He wondered if there was a greater distance than the one between two people in the same bed pretending to sleep." p.213”

“Every time Wallander stepped into someone's home, he felt as though he were looking at the front cover of a book that he had just bought”

“in a rash moment he decided to lie his way to the truth. If he wasn't mistaken, Ellen Magnusson had had very little experience with the police. She would assume that they searched for the truth by being honest themselves. She was the one who would lie, not the police.”