"Bosh. I find a rival – but no, I won't flatter myself that Tecumseh Fox would consider himself a rival of Dol Bonner …"

"I really mean what I say. A Dickens character to me is a theatrical projection of a character. Not that it isn't real…"

"The incredible thing happens at the beginning of the story always, you notice, not the end. A Sherlock Holmes story i…"

"It is impossible for any Sherlock Holmes story not to have at least one marvelous scene."

"I think the detective story is by far the best upholder of the democratic doctrine in literature. I mean, there could…"

"Of course the modern detective story puts off its best tricks till the last, but Doyle always put his best tricks fir…"

"What do I believe in? Belief means faith, and there's only one damn thing in the world I have any faith in. That's th…"

"Every book takes me from 35 to 41 days to write. I don't know why that is. I've tried to get it down to 30 or 31, dep…"

"The only difference between me and most people is that I'm perfectly aware that all my important decisions are made f…"

"There are various ways to call a man a liar. One way is just to scream it at him, which doesn't prove anything. Anoth…"