The bell upon the roof that had told the tale of murder to the midnight wind, became a very phantom whose voice would raise the listener's hair on end; and every leafless bough that nodded to another, had its stealthy whispering of the crime.
~
Barnaby Rudge
by
Charles Dickens
For murder, though it have no tongue, will speak
With most miraculous organ.
~
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
by
William Shakespeare
Other sins only speak; murder shrieks out. The element of water moistens the earth, But blood flies upwards and bedews the heavens.
~
The Duchess of Malfi
by
John Webster
The first diabolical character who intruded himself on my peaceful youth (as I called to mind that day at Dullborough), was a certain Captain Murderer. This wretch must have been an off-shoot of the Blue Beard family, but I had no suspicion of the consanguinity in those times. His warning name would seem to have awakened no general prejudice against him, for he was admitted into the best society and possessed immense wealth. Captain Murderer's mission was matrimony, and the gratification of a cannibal appetite with tender brides.
~
The Uncommercial Traveller - Nurse's Stories
by
Charles Dickens
"Every shot that kills ricochets."
~
Romany of the Snows
by
Gilbert Parker
"I now swear, and record the oath on this page, That I nevermore will discuss this mystery with any human creature until I hold the clue to it in my hand. That I never will relax in my secrecy or in my search. That I will fasten the crime of the murder of my dear dead boy upon the murderer. And, That I devote myself to his destruction."
~
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
by
Charles Dickens
"I think you want a little unofficial help. Three undetected murders in one year won't do, Lestrade. But you handled the Molesey Mystery with less than your usual -- that's to say, you handled it fairly well."
~
The Adventure of the Empty House
by
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
"Every murderer is probably somebody's old friend," observed Poirot philosophically. "You cannot mix up sentiment and reason."
~
The Mysterious Affair at Styles
by
Agatha Christie
"You may place considerable confidence in Mr. Holmes, sir," said the police agent loftily. "He has his own little methods, which are, if he won't mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It is not too much to say that once or twice, as in that business of the Sholto murder and the Agra treasure, he has been more nearly correct than the official force."
~
The Red-Headed League
by
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
"I am one by myself, one," said Mortimer, "high up an awful staircase commanding a burial-ground, and I have a whole clerk to myself, and he has nothing to do but look at the burial-ground, and what he will turn out when arrived at maturity, I cannot conceive. Whether, in that shabby rook's nest, he is always plotting wisdom, or plotting murder; whether he will grow up, after so much solitary brooding, to enlighten his fellow-creatures, or to poison them; is the only speck of interest that presents itself to my professional view."
~
Our Mutual Friend
by
Charles Dickens