“It is always easy to question the judgement of others in matters of which we may be imperfectly informed.”

“They also accused her of being sardonic, and although there was uncertainty about the meaning of the word, they knew it was not a desirable quality in a woman, being one which gentlemen particularly disliked.”

“Crime fiction "confirms our belief, despite some evidence to the contrary, that we live in a rational, comprehensible, and moral universe.”

“I don't see why escapist literature shouldn't also be a work of art.”

“What a child doesn't receive he can seldom later give.”

“Read widely and with discrimination. Bad writing is contagious."[Ten rules for writing fiction, The Guardian, 20 February 2010 (with Diana Athill, Margaret Atwood, Roddy Doyle, Helen Dunmore, Geoff Dyer, Anne Enright, Richard Ford, Jonathan Franzen, Esther Freud, Neil Gaiman, David Hare, and AL Kennedy)]”

“Violent death erase[s] more than the semblance of life.”