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Detectives Quotes

Real detective work, past the TV cliche.

TV gets it wrong, one line argues, homicide detectives aren't 'brooding, tortured souls' but figures with real power and respect, especially in New York.

What is interesting, as well, is how much power homicide detectives have and how much respect. They are kind of rock stars, especially in New York. There are not that many of them.

Quotes by Theo James

Yes, and many times it's frustrating, because I'm simply part of the show, and I'm not in the creative end of it, who goes out with detectives and tries to find these things out.

Quotes by Robert Stack

I know when I was here prosecuting homicides in the District of Columbia, one of the most effective units here was the cold case squad, which had on it FBI agents, as well as Metropolitan Police Department homicide detectives working...

Quotes by Robert Mueller

The most successful detectives owe their success to noticing small signs. Scouts are natural detectives and never let the smallest detail escape them. These small things are called by Scouts 'Sign.'

Quotes by Robert Baden-Powell

Able Quotes

I love soap operas - the stories, the plots! And I love the game shows and the courtroom dramas and the detectives - Jessica Fletcher, 'Columbo,' 'Perry Mason,' 'L.A. Law.' Any sense of guilt appeals to me in a television...

Quotes by Peter Ackroyd

Well I think that the mind of a serial killer and the mind of the detectives represent the duality we face as people.

Quotes by Paul Guilfoyle

I think TV has been a little bit irresponsible in how they portray these people because homicide detectives are not brooding, tortured souls who are stained with the stink of the city and who have blood on their hands. They...

Quotes by Nathan Fillion

Since the era of 'Sherlock Holmes,' private detectives had long been able to influence cases on their own. But the online detective, who had no sort of professional training or even long practice, is a purely modern phenomenon. The Internet...

Quotes by Michelle Dean

The kind of issues that we face as detectives are similar to what the other married couples out there are facing, or the brother and sister, or the brother and brother are facing. Relationships are universal.

Quotes by Michael Ealy

Bicycle Quotes

When I was a kid, what captivated me about detective fiction were the puzzles more than the detectives or their enemies. And as I've gotten older, I see a lot of merit in setting your investigative sights higher than figuring...

Quotes by Mark Waid

My novels are never directly based on a true crime incident, but I want to get the details right. I want to know how homicide detectives think, what a SWAT team might do to prepare.

Quotes by Marcus Sakey

I think we take for granted police officers and detectives that walk into some pretty heinous situations, and they really have to be very brave. So I love playing a character that's very brave - someone that kind of dives...

Quotes by George Eads

The righting of historic wrongs has chimed with something fundamental in me since I was a young reader. I love the forensic skills, the psychological insights, and the sheer bloody-mindedness of various detectives - professional or accidental - inching toward...

Quotes by Fiona Barton

You're right on the money with that. We're all like detectives in life. There's something at the end of the trail that we're all looking for.

Quotes by David Lynch

Frequently Asked Questions

What perspective do these detective quotes take?
A mostly corrective one, pushing back against the TV cliche of the brooding, tortured detective and instead describing homicide detectives as respected, almost rock-star figures, especially in New York.
Why do people search for quotes about detectives?
People look for these quotes when discussing crime fiction, TV portrayals, or real investigative work, especially the gap between dramatized detectives and how the job actually functions.
One quote contrasts Sherlock Holmes-era private detectives with 'online detectives,' what's that referring to?
It points to internet-based amateur sleuthing without formal training, contrasted with the long tradition of professional private investigation that dates back to the Holmes era.
Do these quotes only talk about professional detective work?
No, one draws a more personal comparison, noting that the relationship strain detectives face resembles what any married couple or Brother and sister go through, humanizing the job beyond casework.
What's the overall tone toward detectives in this collection?
Respectful and somewhat corrective, consistently pushing back on exaggerated media portrayals in favor of a more grounded, human view of the work and the people who do it.

Detectives face the same relationship strain as any married couple or Brother and sister pair, one quote adds, while another distrusts the untrained 'online detective.'