Jeremy Brett Quotes

In the same way he's fascinated by crosswords, the puzzle of solving the murder is what drives him on.

It is quite a three-pipe problem.

He just waited until I stopped talking and said, 'Jesus, kid, you're almost a detective. All you need now is a gun, a gut, and three ex-wives. So what's your theory?

Midsomer' is a throwback to the old detective tradition, in which everything happens in the head of one man. Everything depends on his intuition and experience.

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 out how someone stole Encyclopedia Brown's bicycle.

When I was a kid, I loved Sherlock Holmes. I'm not interested in crimes. I'm interested in the mind of the detective and his process, which to me is a lot like the artist.

I was enamored of detectives as a teenager. I liked what they did - piecing things together, thinking about situations. But to get there? Eight to ten years in a patrol car? I didn't have that in me. I didn't want to tell people what to do.

My name is Sherlock Holmes. It is my business to know what other people do not know.

It is quite a three pipe problem, and I beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes.

Forensics I've always found absolutely fascinating. Anything to do with clues. And checking things out and solving.

I loved Sherlock Holmes as a kid, but I remember being disappointed when he'd come up with these simple explanations for these complex mysteries.

I've always loved investigations.

I was always a big fan of 'Quincy,' and I loved the idea of puzzle solving.

I could imagine actually being a scientist or a detective, but not a detective who puts his hands into gory, bloody things. But more like someone who figures things out. I like to figure things out.

[on BBC's Sherlock] It's a rare challenge, both for the audience and an actor, to take part in something with this level of intelligence and wit. You have to really enjoy it. It's a form of mental and physical gymnastics.

The stage lost a fine actor, even as science lost an acute reasoner, when [Holmes] became a specialist in crime.

Once you've ruled out the impossible then whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truth. The problem lay in working out what was impossible, of course. That was the trick, all right. There was also the curious incident of the orangutan in the night-time.

Unless you are good at guessing, it is not much use being a detective.

... what would Poirot do? Poirot wouldn't flap around in a panic. He'd stay calm and use his little grey cells and recall some tiny, vital detail which would be the clue to everything.

I read a lot of 'Nancy Drew' books as a kid and considered myself a bit of an amateur detective.

Trying to solve the mystery is what I enjoy most about writing.

I used to work as a private detective years and years ago.

I remember devouring the entire Hardy Boys series over one summer, enthralled by their bravery and cleverness.

I was the weirdest kid: I wanted to see the police file - in grade school! I was convinced I could crack the case if I just had that file.

I think Morse's thing about being a poor policeman but a good detective is a very good description of him.