“If Morrow worked with herself she'd try and sit a few desks away.”
―
Denise Mina,
Still Midnight
“January is the despairing heart of the Scottish winter” ― Denise Mina, Exile
“Just when you think something can’t get any worse someone who dislikes you comes to watch.” ― Denise Mina, Conviction
“Don't go on holiday to Blackpool, it's fucking horrible there.” ― Denise Mina, Field of Blood
“Julia saw the awe on my face. She recognised it. She pouted and graced me with a small, wry smile, then dropped her eyes and turned away as if to say, yes, here I am. I am a peerless pearl who has fallen from her setting. I have rolled into the dust under a couch and been forgotten. But, if you can see past the dust and the gloom, you will see that I am still a pearl.” ― Denise Mina, Conviction
“The eternal companions of all clever women are mistrust and scorn.” ― Denise Mina, Conviction
“Grief is a scar. The tissue is tough and when it’s cut again, it heals poorly.” ― Denise Mina, Conviction
“I often said the wrong thing–wake up, shut up, grow up. These are the wrong things to say when people are sad about some minor cruelty or sentimental incident.” ― Denise Mina, Conviction
“There is a warmth and a comfort in hearing about people in worse situations than your own. Pity is a hollow virtue. I like it. It’s a form of self-aggrandisement really, bigging yourself up by defining someone as below you. True-crime podcasts are usually great for that but sometimes you have to look really hard to find anyone down there.” ― Denise Mina, Conviction
“it is 1958 and men don’t really have words for feelings” ― Denise Mina, The Long Drop
“She walked through the underpass at the Elephant and Castle, enjoying the sense that nothing really mattered, not the truth about the past, nor whether they believed her, not Winnie’s drinking or Vik’s ultimatum. It was the perfect place to escape from a painful past. She could waste years at home trying to make sense of a random series of events. There was no meaning, no lessons to be learned, no moral—none of it meant anything. She could spend her entire life trying to weave meaning into it, like compulsive gamblers and their secret schema. Nothing mattered, really, because an anonymous city is the moral equivalent of a darkened room. She understood why Ann had come here and stayed here and died here. It wouldn’t be hard. All she had to do was let go of home. She would phone Leslie and Liam sometimes, say she was fine, fine, let the calls get farther apart, make up a life for herself and they’d finally forget.” ― Denise Mina, Exile
“His life had no meaning. It was intolerable. The last three decades had been a hollow waste of time. Hands” ― Denise Mina, Still Midnight
“The real meaning of stories depends on where they’re told, when and to whom.” ― Denise Mina, Conviction
“Ah, the meek. Playing the long game. Sneaky bastards.” ― Denise Mina, Field of Blood
“It was Lord of the Flies without table manners.” ― Denise Mina, The Dead Hour
“I said that one of the stories in the Arabian Nights is specifically about the urge to tell a story. It’s primal, the need to tell. It’s not about the listener but the storyteller. In some cultures, not telling your story is regarded as a sign of mental illness.” ― Denise Mina, Conviction
“I want to kick Grandma in the penis,” ― Denise Mina, The Red Road
“I loved getting up before everyone else, when the house was still and I could read or listen to a podcast alone in a frozen world. I knew where everyone was. I knew they were safe. I could relax.” ― Denise Mina, Conviction
“schadenfreude.” ― Denise Mina, The Less Dead
“January is the despairing heart of the Scottish winter” ― Denise Mina, Exile
“Just when you think something can’t get any worse someone who dislikes you comes to watch.” ― Denise Mina, Conviction
“Don't go on holiday to Blackpool, it's fucking horrible there.” ― Denise Mina, Field of Blood
“Julia saw the awe on my face. She recognised it. She pouted and graced me with a small, wry smile, then dropped her eyes and turned away as if to say, yes, here I am. I am a peerless pearl who has fallen from her setting. I have rolled into the dust under a couch and been forgotten. But, if you can see past the dust and the gloom, you will see that I am still a pearl.” ― Denise Mina, Conviction
“The eternal companions of all clever women are mistrust and scorn.” ― Denise Mina, Conviction
“Grief is a scar. The tissue is tough and when it’s cut again, it heals poorly.” ― Denise Mina, Conviction
“I often said the wrong thing–wake up, shut up, grow up. These are the wrong things to say when people are sad about some minor cruelty or sentimental incident.” ― Denise Mina, Conviction
“There is a warmth and a comfort in hearing about people in worse situations than your own. Pity is a hollow virtue. I like it. It’s a form of self-aggrandisement really, bigging yourself up by defining someone as below you. True-crime podcasts are usually great for that but sometimes you have to look really hard to find anyone down there.” ― Denise Mina, Conviction
“it is 1958 and men don’t really have words for feelings” ― Denise Mina, The Long Drop
“She walked through the underpass at the Elephant and Castle, enjoying the sense that nothing really mattered, not the truth about the past, nor whether they believed her, not Winnie’s drinking or Vik’s ultimatum. It was the perfect place to escape from a painful past. She could waste years at home trying to make sense of a random series of events. There was no meaning, no lessons to be learned, no moral—none of it meant anything. She could spend her entire life trying to weave meaning into it, like compulsive gamblers and their secret schema. Nothing mattered, really, because an anonymous city is the moral equivalent of a darkened room. She understood why Ann had come here and stayed here and died here. It wouldn’t be hard. All she had to do was let go of home. She would phone Leslie and Liam sometimes, say she was fine, fine, let the calls get farther apart, make up a life for herself and they’d finally forget.” ― Denise Mina, Exile
“His life had no meaning. It was intolerable. The last three decades had been a hollow waste of time. Hands” ― Denise Mina, Still Midnight
“The real meaning of stories depends on where they’re told, when and to whom.” ― Denise Mina, Conviction
“Ah, the meek. Playing the long game. Sneaky bastards.” ― Denise Mina, Field of Blood
“It was Lord of the Flies without table manners.” ― Denise Mina, The Dead Hour
“I said that one of the stories in the Arabian Nights is specifically about the urge to tell a story. It’s primal, the need to tell. It’s not about the listener but the storyteller. In some cultures, not telling your story is regarded as a sign of mental illness.” ― Denise Mina, Conviction
“I want to kick Grandma in the penis,” ― Denise Mina, The Red Road
“I loved getting up before everyone else, when the house was still and I could read or listen to a podcast alone in a frozen world. I knew where everyone was. I knew they were safe. I could relax.” ― Denise Mina, Conviction
“schadenfreude.” ― Denise Mina, The Less Dead
