HISTORY AND CRIME FICTION

In Mystery Muses the writers mention some of the great lines in their chosen inspirational crime fiction books.

Such as :

Raymond Chandler's "You can't convict a couple of million bucks of murder in this man's town" from Trouble is My Business.

Daphne Du Maurier's "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again" from Rebecca.

and Robert B Parker's "The office of the university president looked like the front parlor of a successful Victorian whorehouse" from The Godwulf Manuscript.

I wonder if there was ever an unsuccessful Victorian whorehouse.

I am inclined to remember characters in crime fiction more than lines, which is probably a symptom of my failing memory. What is strange that I can remember two little passages from The Thirty Years War which I first read half a century ago.

"Of the army, twelve thousand lay on the parched field of Breitenfeld and the long road to Leipzig, seven thousand were prisoners in the Swedish camp that night and soldiers in the Swedish army by the morning."

and:

"But the Cardinal and his agents had overreached themselves, and the King of Sweden had signed the Treaty of Barwalde with his eyes open. With the help of French money he would shortly make himself independent of French policy: exploitation is a game that two can play."

Treachery, secrecy, death, bribery, and deceit.

Who says history is dull? No wonder so many people read both history and crime fiction.