17 quotes
There’s nothing like having your girlfriend talk in geological time to make you feel insignificant.
The Hanging Tree (2016)
“Peter,” said Tyburn. “I need you to stop just pretending to be clever and actually be clever.”
The Hanging Tree (2016)
For police officers, “close relative” frequently rhymes with “prime suspect.”
The Hanging Tree (2016)
In home furnishing terms, past a certain point, more money doesn’t get you anything except an increase in insurance premiums.
The Hanging Tree (2016)
The main purpose of an administrative meeting is to establish collective guilt for whatever fuck-up arises out of its decisions.
The Hanging Tree (2016)
The media always calls this sort of thing senseless, but the motive made sense—it was just stupid, is what it was.
The Hanging Tree (2016)
The ABC of policing literally goes: Assume nothing, Believe no-one, Check everything.
The Hanging Tree (2016)
Ask not for whom the buck stops, I thought, it stops for thee.
The Hanging Tree (2016)
After a slow start the police have taken to mobile technology in a big way—mainly because it means you can pretend to work anywhere: at home, the canteen, the local boozer.
The Hanging Tree (2016)
God, money is so wasted on the rich.
The Hanging Tree (2016)
Police doctrine is, even if you’re waiting for someone to do something violent to your suspect, you should de-escalate the situation because at the very least a peaceful solution produces a ton less paperwork.
The Hanging Tree (2016)
And having made sure my attention was focused in one direction the universe, which likes a good laugh, smacked me in the face from the other side.
The Hanging Tree (2016)
Hyde Park Corner is what happens when a bunch of urban planners take one look at the grinding circle of gridlock that surrounds the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and think—that’s what we want for our town.
The Hanging Tree (2016)
I considered lying for all of about two nano-seconds, but I don’t have a death wish—not even a figurative one. Of course, philosophically speaking, truth is a slippery concept and one should always be alive to nuance.
The Hanging Tree (2016)
Now, personally, I’d have been happier driving an armored personnel carrier in through the front door. But since we’re the Met, and not the police department of a small town in Missouri, we didn’t have one.
The Hanging Tree (2016)
Dedication: This book is dedicated to all librarians everywhere—for they are the true keepers of the secret flame and not to be trifled with.
The Hanging Tree (2016)
From a policing point of view, guns are a pain. Once someone is known to be tooled up, your operational priorities are suddenly fucked up. It all becomes about managing whoever was stupid enough to pull a gun in central London and your number one priority is public safety, followed closely by officer safety and then, not so closely, by the safety of the moron with the gun.
The Hanging Tree (2016)